


Shimmer

by Beautiful_Infinity, ShaaraSeeker



Category: Transformers Generation One
Genre: Crack, M/M, Sticky, Twincest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-05
Updated: 2012-09-11
Packaged: 2017-11-06 22:35:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 24,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/424018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beautiful_Infinity/pseuds/Beautiful_Infinity, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShaaraSeeker/pseuds/ShaaraSeeker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After being offed by Galvatron and stuck in an etheral form, Starcream finds himself craving companionship and falling in love with the least likely former enemy. Star/Sides and WTF-ery. PURE CRACK</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> I know. I know! Another new story BUT! This one is ONLY a twoshot. It's more or less a break from DT and L&S as well as a weird little bunny that is TOTALLY CRACK! Completely and 100% Crack. Daerynys Starcatcher coauthored this. (It's Sides and Star. OF course she coauthored :D)
> 
> Disclaimer: Not mine or my lovely coauthor's. If it were, don't you think this would be canon by now?
> 
> Enjoy :}

The painting fell off the wall for the third time that morning, and Sideswipe just stared at it, not sure what the Pit was really going on. It's not like his quarters moved; that was impossible, in a stationary area. No earthquakes had been reported, so that wasn't an option either. Still, the fragging thing refused to stay put, and the red frontliner sighed heavily, moving to pick it up before Sunstreaker saw it and pitched a fit.

The fastening was intact, and as Sideswipe moved past the slightly lighter spot on the wall to re-hang it, it felt...cold. An odd chill in the air. He shrugged, chalking it up to a random variance in the environmental controls, and affixed the painting into its place with an extra fastener, determined to make it stay.

The presence just smiled; that wouldn't stop him. He was bored, and he'd chosen his quarry well...this was just the beginning.

Sideswipe frowned as he pulled away from the painting (making sure it was just so or Sunstreaker would know it had been moved) looking thoughtful. This had been happening for a few days now. Not the painting falling particularly, but just... weird things happening. Like just two days ago he'd been walking alone in the hallway on night patrol when something hit the back of his helm. Not hard, but enough to get his attention and sting just a bit. And he had found nothing whatsoever that could have hit him or even find anybody to throw that something. Not even in the security tapes.

Then there was the matter of doors slamming shut in his face. His datapads being moved or swapped with Sunstreaker's on the other side of the room, his energon rations overflowing no matter how much he tried to switch off the machine, and the one time his entire music collection had been rearrange to look ORGANIZED.

He would write it off as pranks. If he could think of anybody who could get away with it for this long. It was starting to drive him crazy.

The presence bided his time as Sideswipe left his quarters; he wasn't going anywhere soon, and he knew it. He occupied his mind with tapping directly into the power supply of the console in the corner; the drain might be noticed, but it could be chalked up to one of the twins leaving their game on again. he used this to form an EM field strong enough to interact with the objects in Sideswipe's room...specifically his berth, this time. He reset the controls for heat, raising the temperature to one that would make its occupant feel...Heated. Because that was his aim, in the end...and this might assist with it.

Sideswipe went to his duty shift- monitor duty again. Apparently, he'd torqued SOMEBODY off, and his penance seemed to be sitting in front of the bank of screens, bored to tears. He checked his chronometer over and over again, wanting nothing more than to get out of here. Sunstreaker was out on a mission, and he had their quarters to himself for a change...he contemplated inviting someone over for some distraction for the nightcycle, and idly considered who.

He leaned back in his chair as he thought through his rather long list of mechs who had said they wouldn't mind repeat or first time romps in the berth with him. Well, he was certainly looking for someone to be distracting tonight, if only to relieve the constant boredom and get his mind off those odd things. A wicked smirk crossed his faceplates as he thought of the perfect mech. And after he had comm'd and confirmed, he sat back to finish the rest of his shift in silence.

"After you, my mech." Sideswipe grinned, gesturing the racer into his room.

Blurr smirked up at him in that arrogant, but attractive way he had and stepped over the threshold into the twins' quarters. Blurr was a repeat offender (what Sunstreaker called those who tumbled with them and scratched his paint) and as such, he was familiar with the inside of Sideswipe's room. Which is why he blinked when he noticed that Sideswipe's side was nearly as tidy as Sunstreaker's.

"Getting-clean-on-me, Sides?" The racer purred teasingly as he propped his little lithe aft on the edge of the couch arm.

"Maybe." Sideswipe replied, not feeling up to explaining that it didn't matter what he left on the floor or his berth or threw haphazardly on his shelf or desk it was always picked up come morning.

Optics narrowed as they watched Sideswipe come home...with someone else in tow. This was...this was simply unacceptable. It wouldn't do, not in the LEAST. He stalked soundlessly over to his console, and the lights in the room actually dimmed for an instant as he drew power to himself; he could not sit here and /watch/ his plans go to waste.

Sideswipe was well used to these odd surges in his quarters, and paid it no mind even as he gave Blurr a look that hid nothing of his intentions for the night. He retrieved a container of the twins' special brew, and offered it to Blurr. As he handed the cube over, it suddenly fell from his hand, an unseen force knocking it to the floor...and all over Blurr's legs, to the racer's dismay.

"Thefrag, Sides?" he asked, frowning.

'Oh frag no, please not tonight!' Sideswipe bemoaned to himself as he scrambled for a comeback. 'Sorry, these odd things have been happening to me lately, you see and I really have no control over them' just didn't seem to cut it.

"Sorry. Was a little clumsy there." He smirked leaning into Blurr's space. "I can get you one of Sunny's good cloths or, " He kneeled down, licking a long line up one of the trails on the racer's sleek leg. "I can clean it for you."

Blurr shivered slightly, his leg falling slightly to the side. "Oh?" he said, a cocky grin plastered across his face.

The fallen cube virtually flew across the room, hitting the wall with a sharp clatter. Several datapads fell from the desk onto the floor in a heap, and two paintings (including the one Sideswipe had carefully refastened) fell to the floor as well. Something was pissed, as Sparkplug would say, and that something advanced on Blurr, insubstantial hands flashing into the visible spectrum just long enough to hit him in the back of the helm, hard.

Sideswipe yelped as Blurr fell into him, knocking them both to the ground. He was just as surprised, staring at his misshappen room with shock. Blurr sat up with a groan, glancing around himself. "Did-we-just-get-an-earthquake?"

"I don't think so..." Sideswipe sounded unsure and frag he really hoped it was an earthquake. Or a really bad prank. "Even if it was we really gonna let mother nature ruin our fun?"

The Wrecker Scout seemed less sure now, but if there was one thing for sure about Blurr it was that what he wanted, he got. And right now he wanted a talented lambo either pounding him into the ground or pleasuring him with his mouth. So he swung a leg over Sideswipe's hips, smearing the spilled highgrade over black plating, and smirked. It was an earthquake. Nothing more. And once he had himself convinced of it, he leaned into the frontliner's personal space. "Pity-your-brother-isn't-here."

Sideswipe snorted, his hands grasping angular hips and tugging. "Yeah, pity."

No. Just...no. He fragging refused to sit here and watch this. He'd decided that Sideswipe was to be his, regardless of his current state. And so he did something about it.

The power in Sideswipe's rooms went completely out, and a few kliks later, lights began to flicker in an odd, rhythmic pattern. He moved, using what he'd drained to give himself hands, and he shoved as hard as he could, moving Blurr off of Sideswipe with all of his strength.

It wasn't much, not for a Wrecker, but it was unexpected. Blurr went tumbling to the floor, curses falling from his lips. Sideswipe bit his lip- what the frag. This was ruining his off-shift time; he wanted a good frag, and Blurr, while cockier than even his twin, never disappointed once properly heated up. "I'm sorry, I have no idea what the frag is going on-" he said, stopping when he saw the look on Blurr's face.

Blurr was staring behind him, absolutely shocked and somewhat terrified. He bolted up and for the door, gone in the blink of an eye, the door completely cycled open just barely after he'd gone. Sideswipe blinked in confusion before turning around behind himself and expecting to see... nothing. Frag, he'd figured Sunstreaker had gotten back early and he just hadn't noticed him. Sunstreaker could be pretty fearsome in the right mood.

The door cycled shut again and as soon as it had closed everything seemed to return to normal. Sideswipe growled, looking up at the misbehaving lights with a clear lack of amusement on his face. "Whoever the frag is doing this, it's not funny anymore!" He cried, pushing himself off the floor and stalking to his berth not caring what he was stepping on.

He threw himself on his back, crossing his arms. He felt warm. Which meant that he had been most likely heating up without conciously registering it. And his entire evening just went to pits.

Finally, the fragger was gone, and his poor Sideswipe was alone. Alone...and more than a little revved just by the beginnings of what he's tried to start with Blurr. He glided over, still filled with energy from the surge, and waited for the mech to offline his optics. When Sideswipe did, though it was obvious he was not in recharge, he reached out with a single hand, brushing softly against patrician faceplates. He opened his mouth, but he could not speak, not yet...so he closed it, his form barely, barely visible.

Translucent yet still there, a blur of wide, sweeping wings and a form slim and deadly to behold. A Seeker, primed for battle or interface, and it wasn't a fight that this Seeker wanted, ghostly or not. He wanted the crimson mech, but more importantly, he wanted to BE wanted.

Sideswipe shivered at the tickling brush of cold air that touched his faceplates. He was going to have to talk to Hoist or Grapple about the environment controls in his room. A caress further down, on his neck and his optics flickered online with a frown. He propped himself on his elbows, observing his room for a moment, the paintings on the floor, the spilled high grade on the ground and the splatter against the wall. Why did he suddenly feel like he was being watched intently?

'You're being paranoid, Sideswipe.' He thought, laying back down. Frag, the heat still hadn't dissipated at it seemed to be spreading along his back and it was... becoming just a tad uncomfortable as it spread other places as well.

He sighed. staring at the ceiling when a shape seemed to form over him. Nothing substantial. More like a thought. Huh, well then. He was going to start daydreaming about Seekers again, was he? It made sense he supposed...

The Seeker above him moved his insubstantial form over Sideswipe, keeping to conventions he had learned long, long ago by straddling the frontliner's thighs and keeping himself there, tapping into the controls of the recharge berth to keep the field active. His knees pressed against the warm metal, and he reveled even in that minor sensation- it had been too long since he'd had any real ability to touch. One finger, the only solid finger on his hand, drifted down Sideswipe's chestplates, the slender tip pressing more firmly the lower he went.

Seekers...always a favorite subject for those who played in the sky. Sideswipe recalled the three who had been the biggest problem for him and his twin- the command trine. Beautiful though they were, they were also deadly...and Sideswipe felt a small pang when he recalled what had happened to them in the course of this war. He shoved that down, though, replaying one of his favorite fantasies...one of them (who depended on his mood and the day) was over him, lips poised to nip at his paneling. The feeling of a hand sweeping lower down to that panel shocked him, but it also intensified the fantasy, and he could feel himself grow even hotter at the the thought.

He shuddered, pressing into the sensation a small groan on his lips. He closed his optics, lending mental images to the sensations as more soft touches and brushed caresses spread over his plating, over his abdomen, barely there on his hips, up over his chassis, against his neck and cheeks. "Mmm..." He hummed lowly.

At least he could get rid of the charge.

Sideswipe groaned as the barely there brushes to his plating trailed lower and lower. It was almost as if hands and lips were actually caressing his frame, bringing pleasure and heat. He could almost see the outline of wings, spread wide and shielding him from the light, creating a looming shadow over him. The seeker frame was enticing to him, especially now with the tenuous alliance still left over from the fight with Unicron and considering Galvatron was probably crazier than Megatron. He moaned as the touches seemed to become more solid, more tangible than just mere brushes across the crimson surfaces of his body. He was growing heated, and his own hands joined the dance. He could imagine the solidness beneath them as he clasped the flier's servos and guided him to the spots that revved him most, groaning again as fingers dug into the wiring connecting his jetpack to his body, or the mouth on his audio.

"Oh frag me..." He breathed softly.

Never in his existence did he wish so much that he had the ability to vent, because the motions came anyway, caught in his throat at the sight of Sideswipe writhing underneath his barely-there touches. He spared only enough power so that the tips of his fingers were solid, aiding the frontliner in his fantasy with his own touches. Arousal struck him hard, and his mouth opened to cry out soundlessly...and for once, he was glad that he made no noise. Beautiful. there was no other word for it.

Sideswipe's optics were shuttered tightly, and by now, the real world had fallen away in the face of his daydreams. He could see the wide wings, a translucent shelter, and the fingertips teasing the edges of his panel caused him to arch up, the covers sliding away in the face of an internal need that he didn't understand. He embraced it anyway, one hand reaching out to brush across the phantom wing in his dream...and when he felt the sharp edge, his mind thought nothing of it.

Wide wings shivered under his palms, seemingly, as he stroked out and across, trailing his digits closer to imaginary wing hinges. He tilted his helm back as he saw in his mind's eye the flick and twitch of the appendages as he teased them. He'd always wanted to get his hands on seeker wings without ripping them off. They'd always fascinated him.

He hummed low in his throat, leaving the wings to trail across his imaginary partner's stomach plating to his cockpit where he imagined rubbing along the seal.

*Frag it*, he thought. What did he have to lose? He was already a ghost...there really wasn't anything worse that could happen, because as far as he could tell, nothing could extinguish him. Nothing. And so he sent his conscious mind into the terminal once more, locking the doors completely...and tapped into the power source of the Ark directly. Just for a little while, just long enough to feel.

A form...well, appeared was not the most precise term that could be used, because its owner had never really left, or arrived for that matter. It was somewhat visible, but what was more important was that it was tangible, at least for the most part. A small smile crept over faceplates that had almost forgotten how...and the ghost of Starscream straddled Sideswipe, hoping that the mech continued to believe that this was a vivid daydream, even as he gently pushed him onto his back against the berth. He could almost feel the hands on him, and it felt divine...he hadn't felt in so long, and his spark ached for just the sensation. He bent low, not even sure if he'd be heard at all, and whispered.

"Optics off, and enjoy it."

Sideswipe's vents hitched with the whisper of a voice in his audio, familiar and yet... too thin to be placed. He shivered and shut his optics off, wondering just how vivid his imagination really was. His hands cupped around the cockpit glass, fingers still stroking softly at the seals.

"They're off." He teased breathlessly. "Think you know a ground frame as well as your own?"

"Yes." he said immediately, without even thinking. He'd had plenty of time to consider this; had watched Sideswipe and his twin interfacing on numerous occasions and he felt he had a fair idea of what the crimson twin liked in the berth. It was just a matter of being able to do it in this form...

He places his hands across the span of Sideswipe's hips, using spark energy and will alone to press down, thumbs stroking in an inward sweep across Sideswipe's pelvic plating, the pressure increasing as he inched closer to his interface array. "I think that I do." he whispered, and inwardly cursed when the sound faded even to his own senses.

He decided to concentrate on the touch, rather than the voice, and he pressed in closer, willing his lips to press against the cabling in Sideswipe's neck.

Sideswipe groaned again and pressed upwards, slightly surprised when the pressure seemed to go through him rather than just on the surface. His spike was straining at its housing and his valve lubricating a little more with each inward caress. He gave a shaky sigh, trailing fingers down faceplates that were so real he may as well not have been daydreaming.

It was more than feeling, it was a need, and the spectral Seeker answered it, unable to fight back the urgings of his own spark. He could feel it, even though Sideswipe's hand went right through him. He moved his hands, placing them on the frontliner's shoulders in a firm press, enough to make sure that he knew he was to stay put, and he fed all available energy to his own pelvic region, grinding hard against that heated plating in a rough press that would have taken his breath away, had he been able to take one.

Even in this state, his spark-form remembered, and he was able to approximate his own responses. His form had always been as close to his living form as possible; he'd had plenty of time to perfect it, and his interface array was as true to form as his wings were. He was ready, so ready to see if he could take Sideswipe this way, even using just electromagnetic fields and his own desire. He concentrated hard, and spoke once more.

"Open to me."

And that just couldn't go ignored. Not with the heat in his circuits and the almost tangibility of this daydream. His valve and spike covers snapped back, his spike extending and valve dripping. He lay still, keeping his optics shut off even as he felt the ghostly presence above himself move.

Hands and spike and hips. That's all he could manipulate, no more, and no less. He needed all three and could not spare power for anything else, no matter how much he wanted to gasp his pleasure into his unwitting lover's audial. His hands tested Sideswipe's readiness, and the slickness was enough to overwhelm him, he who had felt nothing other than this for far too long. Usually, he would take pains to ensure that a lover wanted it so badly that he shook, or he would be taken himself...but this was not the time for that. He slipped between Sideswipe's thighs and teased his entrance for only a moment before breaching him, his spark flaring at the heat. "Oh!" he said, without real sound, and those semi-solid hands trembled on Sideswipe's shoulders.

Sideswipe gasped, arching into the very real feel of a spike stretching his valve walls. Oh Primus, man he really did have a vivid imagination. He groaned, thighs twitching against cold air, but somehow solid feeling hips. "Oh frag that's good!" He growled, cinching his valve down tight. "Frag me..."

He meant that in every way.

"My pleasure..." Star murmured, thrusting inward hard and fast. He had no idea how long he was going to be able to keep this up; his spark felt like it was going to explode, what with the power he'd taken in and the feelings translated into his form by the fields. His hands moved to those twisting hips and dragged the mech into his thrusts, his wingtips quivering in ecstasy. Spark energy, the essence of what he was, danced over every inch of his form, and an odd glow filled the room, emanating from the barely-there presence over Sideswipe. "Love this...Primus..." He could feel the clench, the quiver- he could feel his spark calling to his lover, and dearly hoped that he wouldn't hate him for this if he discovered exactly what was going on.

Sideswipe writhed beneath him, gasping and moaning in incoherent pleasure. It wasn't quite as rough as Sunstreaker, and it was oddly satisfying at the same time. His spark spun in his chest and his valve was quickly reacting to the rapid pace, taking in the spike deep each time. He wanted to open his optics so badly, but he feared doing so would break the illusion and he'd be left with his fingers in his valve and an uncompleted overload.

He could see it, could feel the charge on both their forms, and the golden wash from his spark flared over Sideswipe as Starscream lost it utterly, his hands as solid as they had ever been as he slammed into him one final time, a cry on his lips that should have never come- "Look at me!" His overload was hard, intense, and straight from his spark- pouring energy from himself into Sideswipe in an ephemeral tide,

A shimmering, dark face lowered itself to Sideswipe's for a kiss, and he cursed loudly; he was losing control of the energy, and consequently, his solidity was dissipating.

"No..."

For one perfect moment, there was nothing but white hot bliss as he overloaded, frame arching and a loud cry falling from his lips that echoed in the small room. And then lips, so soft they were barely there, a cheap imitation of the real thing, on his and he pressed into it softly before it disappeared completely.

He collapsed to the berth, panting and gasping for cooler air as his optics dimly onlined. He felt heave and strangely sated for merely an erotic daydream. His spark felt light as air however, and he groaned in satisfaction before he offlined his optics to slip into recharge, catching the outline of a barely seen winged form.

"He's what?" Sunstreaker said flatly, staring at First Aid with a gimlet optic.

It had taken several duty cycles to do it, but Sunstreaker had finally managed to drag Sideswipe into medbay. His brother had been sick on and off again for a good decacycle now and quite frankly he was worried. Now he was wondering if he should get his own audials checked.

"I said your brother is sparked." The Protectobot CMO said quite frankly. Gone were the days where he was a shy, timid thing.

Sunstreaker glared at the mech before turning his glare on his brother. "The frag, Sides?"

"Hey! Don't look at me! I've only interfaced with you in the past vorn or so!" Sideswipe cried, just as shocked and completely thrown for a loop. "I mean, there was the one time I tried to frag Blurr, but you're the only one I share sparks with!"

"Nevertheless, you are carrying, regardless of your habits." First Aid said firmly, hoping that there wouldn't be a fight in his orderly, quiet medbay. "Instructions are in this datapad, and I suggest you rest- you'll need it. Additionally, I will need to inform command staff."

Sunny still looked skeptical. "Nobody, huh. Then it was nobody that sparked you up, 'cause it sure as frag wasn't me. I can't."

"Know that, Sunshine." Sides said shortly, earning a glare from his twin. He had no fragging clue what had happened. He hadn't fragged a soul!

Starscream watched from his little corner, having followed then to medbay. Yes, he had fragged a soul, but how the Pit was this even possible?

"Tell you what, Sideswipe." First Aid said. "I'll scan for matching spark signatures. It's possible you just can't remember what with that party last week."

Sideswipe paused at that. Maybe... He didn't remember fragging with anybody. Actually he didn't remember getting all that sloshed. Which went to show you that he probably had been three sheets to the wind.

"Alright... Thanks Aid." Sideswipe sighed.

However, two months into repeating each scan with each of his patients (after getting their consent of course) First Aid was left baffled. Not one member on their base or even those who frequented it matched the other half of the three little sparks floating next to Sideswipe's. It would forever be known as an anomaly afterward.

It was at one of his visits that they discovered the really odd thing.

"Sideswipe? These are fliers' sparks." First Aid said, looking in surprise. "I just checked records of things like this, and, well...when did you ever have a chance to frag a flier? One of the Aerials?" They all knew that this wasn't true; each one had consented to the scan, and neither was a match.

Starscream watched with an odd smile on his face. His trinemates...were gone. He had accepted that they did not share what had to be his gift and his curse all in one, the ability to live on despite the destruction of his physical form. He supposed that had been why he'd survived the long vorns as SIC under a madmech, but even that was infinitely preferable to what they had now...Star had been there first, and seen the mockery that was Cyclonus and Scourge.

He shook his head, banishing the memories. He'd...he had sparked a trine, with Sideswipe, even in his current state. He felt happy for the first time in forever...and then sad, when he wondered exactly how he was going to be able to know them as a disembodied spark.

He drew power from the medical berth and brushed a hand across Sideswipe's chest plating in a gesture of comfort.

Sideswipe barely noticed other than to relax just slightly. He was far used to the odd ethereal touches that seemed to plague him. He shook his helm. "Never. I mean, sure we have the Seekers on our side now. Kind of. But I don't approach them."

"Are you certain?"

Sideswipe nodded. "Fliers. Maaaaaan... I don't know the first thing about sparkling care let alone WINGLETS."

First Aid shrugged. "I suggest you go find someone you can ask, then. One of the Seekers, I guess? I don't know either...I have never even seen a winglet." He kind of wanted to, though, and three... He decided to check something really quickly. Yes, he was right.

"You really need to speak to a seeker trine, because you're carrying one." Aid said, pointing out the thin lines that connected each sparklet. "They're bonded already."

"Well that's just fan-fragging-tastic!" Sideswipe snarled.

First Aid stiffened, looking at Sideswipe with dissapproval. "Sideswipe, you aren't feeling bitter about this are -"

"No! I want them! What do you think I am!" Sideswipe snapped before he let his helm fall into his hands with a groan. "I don't know what the frag I'm doing..."

Starscream reached out again, this time moving right up on Sideswipe and wrapping insubstantial arms around him. He'd turned into an old sap, since he'd been disembodied. Everything seemed so much more...important, now. Especially a miracle like this. It was almost enough to make the Seeker start believing that Primus was more than just a name. He wished, not for the first time, that he could tell Sideswipe not only what had happened, but that he would be there for him as well.

Frag Galvatron anyway...but if he hadn't done what he'd done, this would never had happened, and... Starscream kicked the berth. Confusing. It was all so fragging confusing.

He kept one hand on Sides' shoulder as First Aid spoke to him, though, lending him what he could of himself.

"So." Rodimus said, looking at the air in front of his desk. "Wanna tell me why the sudden interest in Sideswipe? I mean, I know he's sparked and all, but really? Since when did the great Starscream care about pain in the aft grounders, and I quote 'Can't tell the ground from their afts and have no appreciation for wings?'

"None of your business, Prime." Starscream enjoyed their talks, though he'd never admit to it. He didn't have to pull any odd energy tricks with him- the Matrix took care of that just fine. He hovered just on the edge of the desk, looking for all the world as if he were sitting on it. "He's carrying flyers and has less than no clue what to do about it. Of course I'm concerned about winglets' well-being, what with there being so few of us left..." He stopped, kicking himself in the aft. He'd said way too much.

"You know they're winglets? You've been spying on him." Rodimus sounded far too amused.

"What if I have? What else do I have to do other than wander the halls of this ship?" Starscream felt relieved; old Roddy had not picked up on what he'd meant, and wasn't that just a blessing. Besides, he barely believed it himself.

"I know they're winglets, and I know they're a bonded trine." he said, bragging.

"Yes, I get the medical reports from First Aid every week." Rodimus said, leaning back in his chair looking rather smug.

Starscream flipped him a rather rude gesture adopted from earth.

"That wasn't very nice."

"I'm not nice." Starscream said hotly.

"Obviously, or you wouldn't be in the state you're in now." This was normal for them; by this point, it could even be called affectionate.

"Frag yourself."

"'Least I can." Rodimus said, smirking.

Starscream spoke without thinking. "Oh, you have no idea of what I can do, Prime. None at all."

Rodimus Prime looked suddenly interested. "Oh? Do explain?"

Starscream shut his mouth, cursing himself inwardly. "There's nothing to explain. You're just blind if you think I'm incapable of finding my own pleasure."

The Prime's optics narrowed and he leaned forward. "Starscream..."

"What?" The reply was whipped back, and the Seeker's form flickered. "You have something to say?"

"Just why are you taking an interest in Sideswipe and his sparklings?"

"For me to know and you to maybe find out, Prime." Starscream said honestly. He wasn't sure he wanted to tell him straight out. "I have my reasons."

"..." Rodimus thought about it for several moments and then his optics brightened in stunned surprise. "How the frag is that even possible?"

"I. Have. No. Idea." Starscream said, guessing that the secret was out, to Prime at least. "I...well. And then he...but." For once the mouthy Seeker was at a complete loss for words. "Prime, even Sideswipe doesn't know. I think he thought he was dreaming, I don't know."

"So wait, you... and then you... and you're... with SIDESWIPE?"

"Yes." Starscream said, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. "Why, is that abhorrent to you? You have /no idea/ how it feels, to be trapped without a body, to have no warmth, no comfort...and Sideswipe is..." He really couldn't explain how it had started. It just had, one day. He'd been browsing the Ark, and Sideswipe crossed his path...and Starscream had followed. He'd stayed with him for an entire decacycle, just learning about him. One day, Sideswipe had been missing, off on a routine mission, and Starscream had felt...empty without his presence. That's when it had started.

"Yes, but... SIDESWIPE?" Rodimus could not wrap his helm around the idea. "He's torn off your wings countless times and as far as I know you wished the worst on him and Sunny!"

"Has no one ever changed their mind in your experience?" Starscream said, disgusted. "Look. I don't get it half the time myself. I...feel different when I am not near him. I don't know what to call it, but it's there...and I don't need you of all mechs laughing at me because I've found myself trailing after one of the Terror Twins with a lovestruck expression on my face." As usual, whenever Starscream got riled, his vocalizer far outpaced his logical thought processes.

"... You really do that?"

Starscream glared a hole through the Prime. "I...I certainly do NOT!"

A grin started creeping across his face. "But you totally just admitted it. Starscream, terror of the skies, Decepticon Air Commander, Winglord of Vos... Is in love with a nobody from the pits of Kaon."

"I most certainly am not! I don't love anyone!" Starscream shrieked. "You're so full of slag that you creak when you walk, if you think that I...that I...that..." He shut his mouth, realizing just how stupid he sounded. "I can't love anyone, in case you haven't noticed, Rodimus Prime."

Rodimus just smirked in that infuriatingly cocky way he had. "We'll see, Starscream."

"Maaaan, I don't get any of this." Sideswipe huffed, giving up on the datapad halfway through it. He rubbed at his chestplates, with ached from time to time. First Aid said carrying three sparks would do that to a mech. Let alone three very active sparks. Who would be fliers. And not just fliers, but seekers. Sideswipe had to wonder just when the frag he'd, well, fragged a seeker. He had no memory of it. And he made it a point to only share sparks with his brother.

He sighed, tossing the pad aside. He was well into his third stage, about another month or so to go, give or take a few days. He wanted them to be here already! The thought of babies excited him. Yet at the same time, he had no idea what the frag he was doing.

Starscream "sat" on the couch beside Sideswipe- after his outburst with the Prime, he'd been forced to examine his motives and feelings...and what he'd come up only confirmed what he'd thought previously. Somehow, he had fallen for the red hellion in front of him, and there wasn't a damned thing he could do about it. He thought about trying to repeat what had gotten him sparked...after all, they were alone, but he wasn't sure if it was a good idea with him completely lucid. Still... Starscream gathered his will and bent over Sideswipe,, pressing a kiss to his lips. This wasn't uncommon; he did it almost every nightcycle before recharge, and occasionally before awakening as well.

His hand went through Sideswipe and Starscream cursed softly. Insubstantiality sucked.

Sideswipe looked up on instinct with the pressure to his lips, but (of course) finding nothing there he looked back down at the next datapad he'd been given. By the Rainmaker Trine no less. THAT had certainly been odd for him.

Aaaand, already there were issues. He couldn't take his kids flying or even teach them. He wasn't a flier! He rubbed his chest again, frowning. He supposed he could ask the Aerialbots. Or even some of the Seekers... Yeah, the Aerialbots sounded better. He had too much reputation with the Seekers.

"Would be easier if I knew who sparked you little buggers."

Starscream had had enough. Okay, so he was a disembodied spark...but somehow, he'd managed the impossible here. He gathered force enough to knock the datapad out of Sideswipe's hand, not too hard, but enough to get his attention, and he straddled the mech, willing himself to be as solid as possible. It didn't work- he couldn't even see himself...so he tried a little harder, and his hands started to feel, just for a second. He knew he only had a moment, and this moment was all that he could take at the moment.

Starscream was never one to give up the moment.

His hands gently gasped Sideswipe's face, tugging it up just a bit, and he tried to kiss him again...but before he did, he managed a whisper, so soft it almost went unheard.

"Optics off."

It was almost instinct in the way Sideswipe's optics DID shut off. Despite the datapad being knocked on the floor, despite all the weird scrap that still happened to him day in and day out, something in his spark knew he had been craving whatever this was.

His vents hitched and he unconsciously tilted his helm up.

Starscream moaned silently. So...so fragging hot, and he could barely do a thing about it. He tried, though. All of his considerable willpower and what he had learned of energy field manipulation came into play as he focused his concentration on just one simple thing...something most would take for granted. His lips in a hot, slow slide, his glossa tracing the edges, then dipping to taste the mouth they adorned- two hands on shoulders, pulling his would-be lover close. He could manage no more than that, and his spark cried out for more- a taste was not enough to a starving mech, lost in the desert of the afterlife.

Sideswipe groaned, leaning into the contact, glossa stroking out and contacting something very real and very there. He wanted more of it and suddenly the doors behind him whooshed open and in stomped an angry Sunstreaker. He startled, optics snapping open.

"Primus slagging afted Magnus and his fraggin- Sideswipe, what the pit are you doing?"

It wasn't until his brother had pointed it out that he realized he was technically... humping air. He stopped immediately, hands lowering and faceplates burning. "I- That is to say - "

"You getting another urge?" Primus and if his brother's sudden tone didn't just send a shiver down his spine. Sunstreaker had not complained throughout the entire second stage of his carrying.

"Y...yeah." Sideswipe managed, the look in Sunny's optics unmistakable...and incredibly arousing. Still, something within him felt like he wanted something different...something not Sunstreaker, as blasphemous as that seemed.

Starscream hissed in jealousy, even though he knew that the twins needed each other. He had no problem with that, with the fact that they had to share spark regularly to keep themselves balanced...it was the fact that Starscream wanted Sideswipe, wanted to show him how he felt, wanted to touch and be touched...and he couldn't!

...or maybe he could. He eyed Sunstreaker speculatively, and calculated the odds. Yes, he could subsume Sunstreaker, of this he was certain...but would it be worth the possibility of harming his...what was he thinking. He had no relationship, not in the least. But he lo-

He told himself to shut up, just shut up, and he gathered power. With that energy wreathing his spark, he merged his form with Sunstreaker's, right as the golden twin started to speak.

The frontliner froze, optics flickering several times before settling again, and Sunstreaker blinked.

"Sunny? You okay?" Sideswipe asked, worried.

Starscream tried to speak through Sunstreaker, and the golden twin, of course, was fighting him. This was not a battlefield he had experience with, though, and Starscream knew that he could win. He didn't want to force this, though- that would be worse than rape, in more ways than just one.

::Sunstreaker.:: he said, knowing that he could communicate this way. ::Please listen to me.::

::SLAG OFF!:: Came the mental snarl. Sunstreaker felt trapped in his own body and there was panic starting to rise. ::Who the frag are you!::

Starscream debated this, wondered about telling him. He shrugged inwardly and bit the bullet, as the humans said. ::I am the co-creator of your twin's trine. Believe me or not, that's your choice...but it's true.::

The presence that was Sunstreaker was shocked for several moments before a bright burning rage thrummed through him. ::Listen here you rusted pile of scrap metal! Wherever the frag you're hiding I will find you! Think you can leave my brother to do this on his own! Slag no! So frag yourself sideswipe with a rusty piston!::

Starscream lost it for a moment. ::I've been hiding nowhere, you aft-headed twit! I have been right here the entire time. I have rarely left Sideswipe's side since this...was discovered.:: He left Sunny to chew on THAT for a moment while he furiously tried to think of an explanation that he wouldn't throw out as crackpot.

Sunstreaker seemed to chew on the idea for several moments. ::So what, you're invisible?:: He bit out.

Starscream sighed inwardly. ::No, I'm a disembodied spark.::

::A... what? Are you glitched?:: Sunstreaker's mental tone was entirely disbelieving.

::No. I guarantee that if I show my face to you, you'll know me...and probably want to kill me, but fortunately for me, you can't. Want to see?:: Starscream was actually relishing this, a little...he wondered what Sunny would think, what he would say when he revealed his appearance.

::Show me!:: Sunstreaker demanded immediately.

Starscream would have taken a deep breath if he could, and he drew Sunstreaker in, into that place where their sparks could speak. White and red, with cerulean accents...a dark, dark face that set him apart even among other Seekers...and that dark face had a somewhat apologetic-looking grin on it. ::I'm not lying to you, Sunstreaker. Ask me something only I would know if you don't believe me, but I don't mean Sideswipe any harm.::

Sunstreaker was speechless for several long moments. ::H-how the frak is that even possible? You're dead! We all saw Galvatron off you!::

Starscream would have rolled his optics, had he any. ::Immortal spark. I can't die. Doesn't matter what you do to me, as far as I can see...though I haven't tried immolating my spark in the heart of a sun; that just sounds...painful. I'm disembodied, not dead- proof of that being my winglets, the ones that your twin carries.:: His tone was wistful, longing even. ::I...didn't even know it could happen. I don't...frag it.::

Sunstreaker's energy suddenly became suspicious. ::Sideswipe.:: He intoned flatly. ::Why him.::

Starscream immediately shut down, and since he'd revealed himself already, his metaphysical form showed it. ::I have my reasons, okay? I...frag. You, Prime...can't anyone just...trust what I say? All I wanted was to touch him, to let him know that he's not alone...::

::Trust. You?:: There were several sharp pulses, little pieces of memories from throughout the war. ::Of course Sides isn't alone!:: Sunstreaker sounded thoroughly insulted. ::He's got me!::

Starscream nearly screamed, ::I'm already missing my body; would you deny me what my spark wants as well?:: He stopped dead, realizing that again, he'd said too much. His face set itself into a hard, cold expression, waiting to be told to leave or worse.

Sunstreaker, however... actually seemed to be considering it. ::You really like him, don't you?::

::Yes. I 'really like him'.:: Starscream said, almost in a mocking tone...but not quite. It was too sad to be truly mocking. ::I can't touch him, not for more than a klik at a time. I...I don't even know how I managed to...to spark him..but it happened, and I want him again, I want to be close, I want to feel again...and that's what I was doing, when you walked in. Then I had an idea...but you won't let me, I'm sure.::

And suddenly, Sunstreaker had control of his body, startling Sideswipe who had come close with worried question as he doubled over in laughter. Putting two and two together, Sideswipe hadn't been humping air. And that served as being highly amusing to him. As soon as he was in control again, he inquired, ::What kind of idea?::

::Let me have Sideswipe. Let me have him...with your help. I can...take control of you, for awhile. It won't hurt if you let me. I just want to...:: He couldn't finish; this felt far too much like begging anyway and Starscream wanted to just sink into the floor and not come back until Sunny was far away.

Sunstreaker frowned inwardly just a bit. ::So you want me to just sit in the background and watch...?::

::If you want. Join, for all I care. I just want to touch. I want to kiss. I want to make him shake under me. And then I want to tell him that I am here. Is that so wrong, Sunstreaker? Would that be so fragging wrong?:: Starscream hated admitting this, but he had to. There was no other way.

Sunstreaker would be the first to admit he was not the most understanding or even morally sound of Autobots. Yet, the pleading there, the desperation of a mech he knew carried as much pride as he did. ::... Fine. But just this once. I am not making a habit of letting you use my frame!::

Starscream didn't hesitate. The exchange, such as it was, had taken almost no time at all in the conscious world. He stepped forward with a wave of gratitude toward Sunstreaker, his spark overflowing with desire and unfamiliar impulses that he didn't dare give a name. Ice blue optics shaded to the gold of Starscream's spark, and he spoke, aloud, for the first time since Galvatron had ended one existence to introduce him to the next.

"I'm fine...now." he said. The tone was different from Sunstreaker's but not blatantly...Sideswipe was sure to notice, but someone else might not.

Sideswipe frowned sharply. "Are you sure? You were just... frozen for a bit there and then you had that laughing fit and now I think your vocalizer's glitching... And your optics are changing color on me. I think I should call, Aid..."

"Please be quiet." Starscream said, moving Sunstreaker's body under his own will. If felt ungainly, to him- no wings, and too bulky for his liking...but its match was just across from him, and it looked so much better from this angle. "Two words, Sideswipe. Two words and you will understand...I hope." He took a deep breath, the first in quite some time...and it felt good, so good. He leaned in, over Sideswipe, his voice soft and even sounding like his own.

"Optics off."

Sideswipe's vents hitched and his optics widened as he stared at the familiar features of his brother, but the optics of a stranger. Yet not a stranger. "Primus that was real?" He breathed, almost leaning into the presence of a new EM field.

"It was real. It was as real as you, or I, or anything else in this universe, Sideswipe." Starscream said, pushing Sideswipe back. He felt so good under his hands; the strength, the scent of polish on his plating, even the twitch of his lips as he tried to process what was going on. His spark whirled in happiness, the frequency of Sunstreaker's EM field altering just enough to give it a different signature...one approximating Starscream's own, and he reached toward the tiny trine beneath Sides' plating. "Ours.." he breathed. "Now...I don't have much time...Sunny let me...now please..."

Words failed him then, so he kept to action and pressed his lips to Sideswipe's, a firm slide accompanied by two strong hands holding him there, holding him close.

Sideswipe made a soft noise, muffled by his brother's/stranger's lips. His hands clasped at the familiar planes of his brother's shoulders, stroking down firmly to caress at plating he knew was sensitive. "Who are you?" He asked.

"If I tell you that, you have to promise me something." Starscream kissed Sideswipe again, the taste of his lips intoxicating him. He rose up, his lips brushing Sideswipe's. Gold locked onto blue. "Promise not to judge who I used to be. Promise not to turn me away. Just this once I want you." He kissed the crimson mech again, shivering at the touches on unfamiliar places. He felt the arousal raging in his body, and he pressed hard into Sideswipe, wanting to pin him and take him and then take him some more.

Sideswipe stumbled back, aft bumping the back of the couch. He thought of that for a moment. How bad could it be? It seemed like everyone was changing lately. "I - I promise."

"Call me Star; I'll call you whatever you want. I was a seeker; now I'm just a spark." Starscream said softly, taking Sideswipe's wrists in his hands to press him down into the couch, the golden twin's frame more than sufficient to do this for him. He could sense Sunny in the background, and he wasn't even complaining; this was good, because there was only one way that Starscream was going to stop, and he didn't want to. His lips latched onto Sideswipe's neck, nibbling down the lines there, and he let out a moan straight from his spark.

"Seeker?" Sideswipe gasped, squirming. "Explains my sparklets!" He shifted, rubbing against the golden plating of his twin's body under the control of... Star. He tugged on his wrists, wondering just how much this mech might like some resistance.

Starscream moaned loudly, his form shaking in need. He was gonna go fast, the first time. He knew that. But fraggit, he wanted. "You knew me, before." he pressed. His form pressed as well, pressed hard into the couch. One leg parted Sideswipe's thighs, and Starscream pressed there too, his paneling grinding hard against Sideswipe's. His grip locked hard on Sideswipe's wrists, and he bit down gently on those neck cables. "Open. Open for me, please." he begged, shameless.

Sideswipe answered the mech's moan with one of his own and his paneling snapped open. He gasped as the golden thigh pressed up and rubbed against his lubricating valve. Knew this mech before...? A seeker...? It was hard to think around the soft sounds of his lover and the powerful grip holding him down. "Star... Star..." His optics cycled wide. "Starscream..." He breathed.

"Shh." Starscream said, nodding. "I'm not going to hurt you." He took a deep breath again, just enjoying the feeling. "I'm going to show you." He fumbled with unfamiliar code for a moment, feeling Sunstreaker's faint amusement before the panel slid aside. He wanted him, and by the looks of it, Sideswipe wanted as well. He wanted to make sure, though...He transferred Sideswipe's wrists to a one-handed grip, his other hand dragging itself through the lubricant and heat between Sideswipe's thighs. "I want you. I want you again. But if you say no...if you don't want this...I'll stop." He braced himself for the rejection, and surprisingly, it was Sunstreaker who sent a pulse of reassurance here.

Sideswipe was silent, seemingly mulling it over in his mind. "There are many things I could probably say to that, but... After, yes? Please."

Hot lips slammed onto Sideswipe's as a thick, hard presence teased itself around his entrance- Starscream was ready, so ready, and he whined impatiently, Sunstreaker's equipment in overdrive. He twisted his hips, maneuvering Sideswipe's left leg high on his hip, and entered Sideswipe hard, but slowly, and he threw back his head and cried out, hand releasing Sideswipe's wrists simply because he could no longer control himself enough to hold tight.

Sideswipe gave a sharp shout, other leg wrapping around Starscream's - Sunstreaker's hips and pulling him closer. His arms wrapped around the broad shoulders of Starscream's borrowed frame and he rolled his hips with a groan. "C'mon Star... You're the one who wanted ta frag."

"Say it again. Say my name again, damn it." Starscream practically begged, starting with a pounding, brutal pace that sent waves of pleasure through his form. "Primus. /Primus/. Sideswipe, unnhh!" He looked into his lover's optics and shivered wildly, thrusting harder when it became clear that Sideswipe liked it this way, that he liked being pounded hard into the berth. Hands traveled everywhere- across his arms, his face- one hand reaching down to grasp Sideswipe's spike, a soft brush against sensors usually ignored.

: Sideswipe grunted, hips jerking in time with the brutal thrusts. "Starscream." He groaned into the Seeker's borrowed helm fin. He smirked, licking at the slats before breathing hotly over them and once again whispering. "Starscream."

"Please..." he gasped, almost completely undone just by those two syllables. He thrust even harder, the couch beneath them jerking rapidly with every movement. He dragged one leg over his shoulder, noting somewhere in the back of his mind that this was far easier without those damned vents in the way, and gasped as the angle changed, the tightness around him squeezed, and the cry from his lips was as loud and strong as it had ever been in his own form. "Sideswipe!" he cried, burying himself deep within the mech and overloading hard, the feeling not seeming to end even with release.

Sideswipe yelped with the increase of pressure and angle, but frag it all, it wasn't enough to send him over just yet. "Starscream!" He groaned desperately, his valve convulsing around the hard intruder.

It didn't end with his overload. There was no way that it could, too much had pent up over the months, watching Sideswipe get fragged by his twin, wanting to touch and being unable, and now, being allowed to do so...it was too much. Starscream growled low in Sunny's throat, still buried to the hilt in the crimson warrior. "Do you like that?" he whispered. He ground into Sideswipe's ceiling node, withdrawing only slightly to plunge back in, repeating the motion. "Tell me that you like it. Tell me that you /want/ it, that you want me inside you. Call to me, Sideswipe. Say it. Say you want me. Say you want me in you." Starscream bit back another scream of pleasure, suddenly wanting the mech on top of him, riding him beautifully, but he held firm.

"Want it!" Sideswipe, unlike his brother, had no compunctions with begging if it got him a good overload or three. "Want you! Feels good! So, so good... Primus, Starscream, you are in me, and Primus dammit does it feel good!" He clenched down on Sunstreaker's spike for a brief moment every time Starscream pulled out of him.

Starscream couldn't take it anymore; he wanted it, he wanted it now, and he turned them over, slamming Sideswipe hard onto his spike as he did so. His borrowed form shook in pure sensation, and his hands convulsed over Sideswipe's hips, fully prepared to use the strength in this form to move him, if necessary. "Please." Starscream said, his tone almost a whisper. "Please, want this, want to see you lose your mind for me." His hands clenched and unclenched in need, and he thrust upward with every shift in movement, wanting more, faster, harder, more, now.

It was a familiar rhythm, and Sideswipe fell into it almost immediately. His hips rose and fell with the powerful pushes of Starscream's desire and he raced for the overload hovering just on the edge of his awareness. He growled, denta bared in a snarl, and black hips ground down harshly. Sideswipe's helm flew back, mouth parted on a cry of bliss as ecstasy consumed him in a wave of sensation.

"Starscream!" He cried, port clamping down and milking the golden and black spike embedded in him.

"Oh. Oh. Nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn-!" Starscream broke, jerking upward into that heat, his second overload nearly stealing his consciousness away. The urge he felt now...he had to hide it, to put it away, because he knew damned well that that wouldn't happen. He was lucky to have this, and he was going to hold it for as long as he could. Hands trembled on dark hips, and golden optics looked up at the shivering frontliner above him. Starscream smiled, something...odd in his gaze. Something not readily definable.

Sideswipe panted as he remained where he was, white thighs trembling against black hipplating. His hands were clasped over the familiar artists' digits that his brother possessed and he moaned as he came down from his high. Optics he hadn't even realized he'd shut off, flicker back on to stare down at his brother's smirking face. How odd, to see his twin, but know it wasn't his twin. "Pretty intense." He smirked back, valve beginning to relax around the pulsing spike it held captive.

"Yes." Starscream whispered, a smile on Sunstreaker's lips. Sunny was still in the background, and was satisfied that Starscream wasn't going to harm his twin...and he hadn't yet demanded his body back, so Starscream was going to enjoy it for as long as he could. "Intense." he agreed. He didn't let go of Sideswipe's hands, didn't lft him from Sunny's spike...Starscream held him there, lightly, and just stared at the glow that came from being sparked with an entire trine, and of...emotion of some kind.

The red mech, as soon as he could think straight again, tilted his helm in curiosity. "What are you lookin' at?"

"You." Starscream said, being completely honest. Words danced on the edges of his meta, but he couldn't bring himself to say them. One hand drifted across Sides' chest paneling, right over his spark where the trine lay safely, resting until it was their turn to live.

Sideswipe snorted suddenly. "You know, Star. You're something else."

Starscream looked at him, the question clear in Sunny's optics.

"I mean, up until the whole incident with Galvatron, I honestly thought you were a complete arrogant frakker. I admit there was attraction there. You were slagging gorgeous, any mech can admit that. And now here you are, for all intent and purposes a ghost in my brother's body. Yet as a ghost you still manage to frag me good, spark me up with three and apparently harass me." Sideswipe wasn't stupid. he could put two and two together.

Starscream actually laughed at this. "I'm that good, baby." He could feel Sunstreaker rolling his optics at that. "I'm just that good." He rolled his hips, experimentally...he didn't want this to end, not at all, even though he knew it had to one way or another. He just stared up, memorizing the feel of Sideswipe's body, his hands traveling everywhere they could reach.

Sideswipe's vents hitched and his hips moved unconsciously into Starscream's roll. His arms shot out to brace himself to either side of Starscream's helm and he stared into the golden optics before leaning down and stealing a kiss.

::His helm horns are really sensitive. Especially after an overload.:: Sunstreaker supplied helpfully.

Starscream purred, bolstered by Sunstreaker's advice, and returned the kiss. When he broke off, his glossa trailed across sharply defined faceplates to those aforementioned helm horns, taking just the tip between his lips for a gentle suckling motion. He hummed around it, his hands still exploring Sideswipe's frame.

He gasped, hands clenching at the soft material on the couch and tearing into it as he moaned softly. He tilted his helm into the attention, hips rolling again and valve squeezing down, this time on purpose.

Starscream chuckled lightly at this, encouraged. He moved back just a little, his lips still in contact with the sensitive appendage. "You're gorgeous when you move like that." He moved slowly upward in time with the almost lazy squeeze, his free hand steadying Sideswipe atop him. "Tell me what you want, -" He stopped. He'd almost called him...something that he should not say.

"For you to fuck me." He grinned, pulling his helm away to grin down cheekily. He rocked his hips, changing the pressure and angle of the rapidly re-stiffening spike. He groaned. "Was kinda fun riding you. What do Seekers normally do for fun?"

The human curse word sent a shock of want through his systems...why, he wasn't quite sure, but /damn/, was that hot. "Half of what I'd /like/ to do with you does /not/ meet with your twin's approval...but." His breath hitched and his spike surged, ready to slam into Sideswipe once more. "Turn over. I'll have you that way." Starscream raked Sunny's hands down Sideswipe's arms, hard, but not quite hard enough to scar his plating. "I'll have you from behind and slam you until you forget your own designation."

Sideswipe shivered, gently pulling off of Starscre-Sunstreaker's spike. A small, disappointed whine left his lips, but then he moved to leave room for Starscream to sit up. "We'll fall off the couch doing that." He grinned. He would know. It had happened to him and Sunstreaker before.

"Then lean over the edge on your knees." Starscream suggested softly. He could feel Sunstreaker's assent, and a flash of memory of the twins doing this themselves...it seemed that Sunstreaker really liked this position. Starscream smirked, sliding gracefully to the floor, waiting.

Sideswipe shivered, slowly sinking to his knees and bending over the edge of the couch. He gripped the mesh, shuddering as his imagination fueled a fantasy or three as he waited with building anticipation for Starscream to make his move.

Sunstreaker's hand stroked over sensitive seams, but it was Starscream who willed it, moving behind Sideswipe to place a hot, openmouthed kiss on the back of his neck. A hot, hard spike prodded at Sideswipe's already well-fragged entrance, but Starscream didn't care- he wanted it, and he was going to take it. He grasped those dark hips in both hands and pushed himself inward once more, sliding hard and fast when Sunny prodded him mentally. "So good..." he moaned, golden optics flickering.

Sideswipe's back arched and his valve spiraled tight for several moments. "Yes! Oh yes! Starscream!" He groaned, hands reaching back to touch any plating he could reach.

Every time Sideswipe called his name, he wanted to slam into him harder. It felt so fragging good, and Starscream dug into Sideswipe's hips, drawing him into the powerful thrusting motion. He threw his head back and cried out loudly, the unfamiliar voice startling him for a moment...but he didn't lose his rhythm; it increased. "Yes. Oh, yes. Love to hear you. Need to. Sides, please!" The begging overtones were completely odd to hear in Sunstreaker's voice, but it was there and real.

Sideswipe held nothing back, crying out each time Starscream pushed in and moaning long and low each time he pulled out. He was in the Matrix. This was bliss, it felt more than good. And through it all he continued a litany of words of curses, prayers to Primus and Starscream's name.

Starscream could feel it coming once more, and he could also feel his own energy flagging terribly, something he had not felt since he'd last possessed another mech. His hands clamped down hard onto Sideswipe's shoulders and he jerked him onto his spike violently, slamming inward in a hard, fast shove that sent him spiraling over the edge. Even Sunny seemed to be affected; he could sense the field flares from within him. He screamed, the sound almost broken coming from Sunstreaker's vocalizer, his spark energy creeping outward to lick over heated crimson plating as he filled Sideswipe just the way he liked it, just how he wanted it. "Sideswipe, yes, please yes, you feel..."

Sideswipe's own release was triggered by the intense flaring of Starscream/Sunstreaker's EM field as well as the harsh pounding and he stiffened under Starscream. After the waves of pleasure had receded, he slumped with a sated and somewhat tired moan, feeling like mush. "Primus does exist."

Starscream could barely hold on to the control Sunny had lent him, now. He felt like the ghost of a ghost, and that thought made him actually laugh. He couldn't laugh, though- he didn't know if he'd ever be able to do this again, and that thought made his spark clench tightly in a surprising amount of longing. With the last of his strength, he leaned his borrow form over Sideswipe's back, using the hand to caress his back, to touch his shoulders. "Thank you." he said, and it was clear he was talking to both twins. He released control of Sunstreaker's form only because he couldn't do anything else, and his presence split from Sunstreaker, completely invisible and imperceptible once more.

Sideswipe lay there panting, a sharp stab of sorrow threading through his spark as Starscream's presence faded. But damn, had it been worth it. He did however, notice the sudden rev of a highly tuned engine and yelped when he was flipped over to lay on the floor, his brother's faceplates and normal ice blues peering down at him. A wicked quirk pulled the thin lips into an attractive and predatory smirk.

"My turn."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After being offed by Galvatron and stuck in an etheral form, Starcream finds himself craving companionship and falling in love with the least likely former enemy. Star/Sides and WTF-ery. PURE CRACK

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I keep forgetting I can post things over here. Here's the rest of Shimmer guys!

Chapter 2

"We can get caught!" Sideswipe gasped into the audial of Fireflight, his hips pistoning into the tight valve regardless of his concern.

Starscream's random body jumping and cornering was thrilling. He was always on guard and yet never enough. He never knew what frame his lover might inhabit next. One moment, he might find himself speaking to Springer and the next he's being shoved into a supply closet by an eager little jet with golden optics instead of blue. He moaned as his hips rolled eagerly into the rises and fall of his lover above him.

"No we won't." Star muttered, Fireflight's encouraging laughter in the back of his mind. He'd been all for this, for some odd reason, and Starscream took full advantage of that fact, seeking out and then kidnapping Sideswipe to pull into the storage closet. Flight, unlike Sunstreaker, had no issues with being fragged, and so Starscream was moaning his ecstasy, writhing above Sideswipe and moaning like a slut. "And even if we do, so what? Nobody knows it's me, except maybe your twin and Prime...and Flight here of course." His voice rose, Fireflight's light tenor tones suited for crying out. "Wings." he gasped, about to lose it.

Sideswipe moaned his own acquiesce and reached around for the wing hinges first. It wasn't his first rodeo with a flier. "Mmmm! How about - ooooh - an angry gestalt coming for me?" He gasped a laugh. Dark fingers scraped into the hinges and then out along the white expanse of wings.

Starscream cried out, suddenly not caring who heard what. "Gestalt...knows...ohPrimus...Flight's a slut!" Fireflight only giggled louder at that comment, encouraging Starscream to enjoy it. He'd never done anything like this before, and it felt damned good. Star rocked down hard atop his lover, Fireflight's wings as responsive as his own to his thoughts. They arched into the light touches even as Star began to ride Sideswipe harder, his borrowed form's systems primed for overload.

Sideswipe growled, hands locating the gap between Fireflight's nosecone and his back and managing to get under it to tug at wires. His hips met each harsh roll and he nipped at the gray throat with gusto.

"Lucky me." He chuckled as soon as he felt he had thoroughly marked the cabling before nipping at Starscream's borrowed chin and then onto kissing him.

He returned the kiss with vigor, lips trying to speak the words he wanted to say, but hadn't dared thus far. Then the sensation of overload struck him down.

"AH FRAG!" Star cried, in Flight's voice. His hips jerked hard, grinding down onto Sides' spike as if he could do nothing else. As he rocked, his mind fragmented. He had no idea what he was saying, let along doing- his spark ebbed and flared in time with Fireflight's own, while they were linked this way. "Need you! Want you! Love you! Please, don't stop!" he screamed, wings flaring wide.

The red mech's vents hitched and he moaned as the valve clamped hard over his spike and he released his fluid inside the mech. His hips continued to move despite this and then he slid heavily down the wall, venting heavily and cooling fans on full throttle.

"Primus. First Sunny, then Mirage, then Hound, now Flight... Who's next? Acid Storm?" He teased breathlessly.

"He won't let me." Star gasped, feeling more than a little 'faded', as he'd come to call it. "And I refuse to do it to someone unwilling." Fireflight took that moment to inform Starscream that he wouldn't mind trying that again at a later date. "Flight says we can do it again sometime." He bent down to give Sideswipe a deep kiss before he lost control of the energies that bound him to Flight's form dissipated completely, not realizing what he'd said in the heat of overload.

A pang of sorrow followed his lover's departure as it always did and as he pulled away from the kiss, he was met with the rather more-innocent-than-it-should-be smile of Fireflight. He grinned his own cheeky grin.

"Heya Flight."

The Aerialbot ginned right back, even though he was still impaled on Sideswipe's spike. "You know, you're not bad for a groundpounder..." he said, giving Sides a look that was totally contrary to his innocent grin. "Did ya have fun? I sure did."

The red hellion looked at Fireflight with such a gobsmacked expression, Fireflight had to save it. It would be the only time he would probably ever see Sideswipe at such a loss for words. Then the frontliner threw his helm back and laughed, long and loud.

As soon as the laughter had trailed off into giggles and chuckles, he smiled widely. "Yeah. I definitely did. And 'Flight, Jet Judo was established looong before the war." He smirked. "Can you guess why?"

"Because you like havin' your hands all over fliers is my guess." Fireflight had grown and matured some over the years, but he always had his sense of humor. He poked the frontliner in the chest, still grinning. "You're good at it, too." He shifted himself, almost as if moving off...but decided he was too lazy at the moment and simply laid indolently over Sides' chest, chin propped on elbows. "How's the tiny trine?"

Sideswipe's smile softened. "They're active little scraplets."

He raised an optic ridge and the Aerialbot. "You do know I can't get up with you on, right?"

Fireflight sighed as if it were a huge undertaking and moved himself off Sideswipe, closing his panel without even wiping up.

Starscream was still in the room, of course, even if he felt faded. He rarely left Sideswipe these days, and he was fairly sure that Sides knew it. It wasn't like he had anything better to do; there was no leads on getting him an actual body, for instance, even though he wanted that more than just about anything. Not just A body; HIS body. That had been destroyed by Galvatron's blast, though. He sighed. He could likely rebuild himself...if he had the tools and equipment and a base frame to use.

Sideswipe on the other hand did wipe up. He may be sparked up, but he was still on light duties. If only to keep himself from going insane with boredom. "Well, I had fun 'Flight. Tell Raider I said hi, would ya? Oh and that he owes me 20 creds from the other orn."

"I will. Gotta go on patrol now, slaggit...flying with Seekers feels weird." Flight complained, twitching his wings. "'Dive's goin' with me today, so if you wanna tell Raid yourself, he's prob'ly lounging in the hangar watching TV." With a little wave, Fireflight left, leaving Sideswipe alone in the room with an invisible Seeker.

Sideswipe huffed a laugh and glanced around. He knew Starscream was probably still hanging around and he chuckled to himself. "Welp, we can go torment Raid or go bother Sunny on duty..."

That wasn't even a question that needed an answer. He wanted his fragging credits. With another quick wipe down, he stood and left.

Starscream floated down the hallway, being uninterested in whatever Sideswipe was doing at the moment. It had been loud, whatever it was. He passed by the lab areas with some interest, wondering what they worked on these days. He'd been a scientist before he'd been a warrior, and so such things interested him a great deal. The door was shut, but since when did that ever stop a ghost? He floated through, humming under his breath.

Mirage was leaning against the inside of the door, overlooking a rather cheery engineer that was working alongside Skyfire over the beginnings of a grey protoform for a flier.

"And I have to say, I was surprised Sunstreaker asked us to do this, but I guess it goes to show you can't judge a book by it's cover!" the orange and light blue Praxian babbled happily as he worked on the delicate wiring in a wing connector hub. He was a bright young mech, friends with Bluestreak and rather wordy when excited himself. Having trained under Wheeljack during the time on Earth, he was very good at what he did.

Skyfire and Mirage exchanged smiles, the babble rather soothing in the wake of sorrow that accompanied the idea that Wheeljack wasn't here and babbling away about this project or that one.

Starscream moved closer. Sunstreaker? What was Sunstreaker asking to have done in a mechanical lab? And who was this cheery engineer? Star didn't know him, and he'd thought he knew every 'bot around these days. His lips pursed as he moved to get a good look at their project, and he saw... Wings. Seeker wings. The frag? Were they building protoforms for Sideswipe's sparklings? No, the frame was far too large for that. He didn't get it. Not at all...and he almost, almost gathered power to be heard. He did intentionally knock over a metal tray that had been on a low table, thinking that might get their attention.

All three mechs startled, Skyfire whirling in his surprise and hitting the much shorter Praxian over the helm with his wing. Upbeat, startled and then thrown off balance, ended up getting the tip of two fingers with his micro-welder and he yelped, shoving the fingers in his mouth to cool them off. Mirage stared... And then shook his helm.

Starscream looked oddly at Mirage; could he actually see him? Mirage's sensor network had always included some odd things, to Starscream's knowledge, and he tested his theory by waving openly to the once-assassin, grinning from audial to audial.

Mirage, could not in fact, see him. After helping Starscream frag Sideswipe, however, he could connect the dots where others couldn't. Upbeat was looking curiously at the spilled tools that Skyfire was currently picking up.

"Sorry, Sky. I must have set that on the edge."

Star shrugged when Mirage didn't react. That was fine; Mirage had done him a favor once already and likely would not do so again. He looked speculatively at Skyfire, and then dismissed the idea; Sideswipe would likely kill him if he showed up in that oversized frame. Then again, carrying three, he might not. Star's smile was salacious. His spectral wings flicked backward, and he moved closer...huh. A Seeker form. He wondered which one of them had gotten themselves slagged this time...not a Conehead, the body configuration was off. But he'd said Sunstreaker who asked...he was mystified. Maybe he should just go ask Sunny. He could talk to him if he joined with him, though it would probably frag the golden mech off a bit.

Starscream left the same way he came in, confused. He headed toward Sideswipe's quarters, hoping the loud and annoying was over with.

Sideswipe lay on the couch, watching the vid screen and bored. Air Raid had left a few kliks before after quite a bit of video games and now he was alone. Well, Starscream may or may not be hanging around. He sighed and flipped to another channel. Again.

Star floated through Sideswipe's door and found him frowning on the couch, looking bored to tears. He carefully placed his own insubstantial form across him, on the couch, and leaned up to give him a kiss...a kiss that may or may not have been felt, but at least Star knew he'd done it. He wondered if it'd be okay to merge with Sideswipe, but then shook his head...if he did THAT, then he'd know how Star felt, and that would be messy in ways he didn't think he could handle at the moment. Nobody wanted a lover who was already dead...even if they weren't technically dead.

Sideswipe felt that small amount of pressure against his cheek and his lips twitched into a half-smile. Then his quarter doors opener again and Sunstreaker walked in. Sideswipe glanced up at him when he came to stand behind the couch.

"Is this all you've doing all orn?" He huffed. Sideswipe just grinned.

Starscream looked up. Hm, Sunstreaker. He had a bit of power, and he was curious...so he slipped next to him and merged his form with him, immediately reassuring him that he wasn't trying to take over. "I promise, I swear it, don't slag me, because I'm sure that you could even without me having a body, I just have a few questions..."

"I thought I said we weren't making a habit of this." He answered with a growl.

"I'm not!" Star cried. "I'm not trying to use you, I just want to talk, and well, it's harder than Pit to do it any other way!" His 'face' was sincere as it could get. "I was wandering around and saw and heard something odd in the labs, something with your name attached to it. Maybe you want to tell me?"

Sunstreaker's aura became wary suddenly. "The labs. Really?"

"Yes, really. This odd Praxian was working on a flier's frame. Rather large to be a sparkling's, I thought, but it has no identifying characteristics that I could see..." Starscream really was at a loss. He had no clue why the engineer was doing this.

"Upbeat's not strange." Was Sunstreaker's immediate reply. "And it's none of your slagging business."

Starscream cocked an optic ridge. "Touchy, are we? Sheesh. It was just a question. If one of the Seekers got injured to the extent of needing that much reconstruction, I would really like to know, just for myself." Sunstreaker was an aft, he decided...a pretty aft, but an aft nonetheless.

"I still say none of your fragging business." Sunstreaker growled. Sideswipe was staring at him with an odd expression and he knew it must be clicking in his brother's mind soon.

It did and he snorted, shaking his helm. "Tell Star he needs to actually possess me sometime. I kinda wanna know what it's like."

Starscream, inside Sunstreaker's meta, shook his head and stepped back almost as if warding away. "No, not happening! Not anytime soon! He doesn't need to see everything in me!" he said, forgetting that he was possessing the sparkbound twin of the one he was talking about.

"And why not?" he virtually whined at the golden twin. "Tell me, and I'll leave you alone!"

Sunstreaker snorted. "No. Frag off."

The next thing the spectral seeker was aware of was the strong spike of will that pushed him from Sunstreaker's body. The golden twin turned on his brother with a scowl. "Tell your boyfriend he needs to find a hobby."

Starscream stuck out his glossa at Sunstreaker. Fragger. He'd find out somehow! He entertained himself with thoughts of putting stripper in his cleanser bottle, but these were only idle fantasies; if he actually did it, Sunstreaker would find some way to slag him even though he WAS only a sparkform. He sighed and placed himself back on Sideswipe's lap, glaring at Sunny. Aft.

Sideswipe snorted. "Ya hear that, sugar thrusters? Ya need ta find a hobby!"

Sugar thrusters? The frag?! Starscream gathered a bit of energy and quite deliberately knocked Sideswipe quite gently on the back on the helm, giving a look of aggrieved happiness. A contradiction, but it existed.

Sideswipe grinned when he felt the pressure on the back of his helm. "So where ya been, bro?"

Sunstreaker snorted. "None of your business."

"Yeesh, what crawled up your aft and died?"

Sideswipe yelped as he was shoved off the couch and landed in a heap on the floor. "AFT!" He yelled after his brother as he stalked out the door.

Sunstreaker ignored him and Sideswipe huffed, getting back up on the couch to settle in and watch tv to pass the time.

"They look like they're progressing nicely." First Aid said, looking over the data scrolling across his screen.

Sideswipe looked too, but couldn't make heads or tails of the information. "Yeah?"

First Aid flipped on a screen and pointed. "One, two, three. Can't you see them?" He pointed out the glowing blobs that really...looked like nothing. "Found their coder yet?" First Aid still hadn't. Every flier in the faction, near about, had been tested, and none of them matched the obviously Seeker signature that had formed the tiny trine.

Starscream stood back, looking at the data scrolling across and nodded. They were doing fine, as far as he could tell, even though he was no medic. Maybe even better. Their energy absorption was up...he wondered if that was because he'd been fragging their carrier semi-regularly.

Sideswipe tried not to smile, and shrugged. "No clue." First Aid wouldn't believe him if he told him anyway.

First Aid sighed. "Very well. They seem to be doing wonderful. Increase your additives, I don't necessarily like how their own bonds seem to be weakening. That should help."

Weakening? Starscream really didn't like the sounds of that. Seekers born bonded were rare, and he didn't want anything to happen to them...but as his hand went through a monitor, he realized yet again that he really could do nothing to help. The look on his face was sad and resigned, and He slid over to Sideswipe, placing his hands on/through his shoulders as if to rub and chase the tension away.

"Help? Only help?" Sideswipe asked, the worry in his voice a tight knot.

"Relax Sideswipe. The bonds won't break if they weaken." First Aid sounded as if he had been studying up on this. Just like Ratchet would have. Sideswipe felt a pang in his spark for his former lover. "It will cause problems for the separation, however. They'll draw from your own spark to strengthen their bonds. It could kill you. Which is why we're taking preemptive measures."

Sideswipe nodded and took the extra additives that First Aid handed him. "It would help if we knew their coder. Generally the coder's CNA could reverse this problem easily, but..."

Starscream wanted to yell, 'It's me, slag you!" but even as his mouth opened, it did less than no good. His voice went unheard. This was his fault...his state caused them to be at risk, and Sideswipe was now also at risk of dying! What could he do? Would it help if he entered another mech, and merged with him? He didn't know. Could he try and repeat the process that had gotten Sideswipe sparked to begin with, though he'd never managed it since no matter how hard he tried?

"So what's that supposed to mean?!" Sideswipe almost whined. He didn't know a thing about all this, and he not for the first time considered strangling Starscream when this was all over with...if he ever could. That thought made him droop at bit, and the spectral Seeker sighed. He knew part of the issue, and he hoped there was enough room in there, especially for three...

"It means you aren't really built for this." First Aid said with a shrug. "That doesn't mean anything bad will happen, though...it just means that you need a bit of extra watching. That's my job, and yours. I'm certain you're not the first ground frame to ever mate with a flier. Though if we knew just who that flier was, he or she might be able to help you." Sideswipe shrugged. "Alright, I'm taking you off of light duty. You are now off duty completely. I don't want anything to go wrong."

Now Sideswipe whined. "Aiiiid! You can't do this to me, kid! I'll offline from boredom!"

"Tough slag." The medic crossed his arms and looked through his visor at the carrying frontliner. "I refuse to be responsible if anything happens to your younglings, and by Primus this is something I can enforce."

For a moment there it was almost like Ratchet was standing there in front of him, but the lack of a wrench upside his helm kinda ruined the image. He groaned. "Fine. But when I go nuts from looking at four walls cycle in and cycle out I'm whining to you."

Star ran a ghostly hand across Sdeswipe's shoulders and vowed, silently, to figure out some damned way to amuse him. This was his fault, sort of, and dammit he'd already admitted how he felt. He'd better help him, or he was a sorry piece of slag. He vanished for points unknown to try and find a way, leaving his sometime lover to stand helplessly in medbay. "This sucks, First Aid. Sucks hard."

"You do know what causes this, yes?" he asked distractedly. "Do remember it next time you're feeling...a bit bored." He turned away to his work without another word.

Rodimus regarded the quiet seeker 'sitting on his desk'. He had to admit that while Starscream had once upon a time been a pain in the aft to be around, he was interesting company. Especially recently.

"Credit for your thoughts?"

"It's Sideswipe." the Seeker said softly, looking at the desk's surface as if wiping off a nonexistent stain. "He's...having problems. Sure you knew that already." he said, not quite as sarcastically as he may have once said it. Shimmering wings almost twitched, the distress plain to anyone who knew fliers well.

"First Aid says they're not too much a problem." Rodimus pointed out. "He just wants to keep him under observation."

"He's not a Seeker." Starscream pointed out somewhat unnecessarily. "It's just going to get harder and harder until it's finally over with. And First Aid ALSO said that their sire could help, and here I sit."

The Prime grinned. Widely. Most unbecoming of a Prime. "Are you sure you're fragging him enough?"

Starscream literally stuttered. "How the- you think that I- do you have the slightest /idea/- PRIME. Do you know how HARD it is to try and- and - and /frag/ him like this?!"

"I know I've heard some interesting stories from Fireflight and Hound." He snickered, sitting straight.

If he could have blushed, he would have. "They were willing!" he insisted. "I wouldn't...make anyone do that!"

Rodimus held up placating servos. "No, they made sure that was clear. Fireflight also made it clear he wouldn't mind a repeat. Or even several. Apparently Sideswipe is something of a skilled lover?" There was definitely a tease in his tone.

Starscream stared into nothingness for a moment, remembering their very first time. "Oh, you have no idea." he almost purred, before remembering himself and where he was. "Prime, that is NONE of your business, unless you are volunteering...and I should think that you couldn't, because I couldn't possess you if I wanted to!"

Rodimus leaned back and merely smiled. Widely. And smugly.

"Spill it, Prime. Now." Starscream's tone was implacable as it could get. "Quit being coy."

"You know... The matrix doesn't necessarily STOP you from possessing me." He began slowly, measuring the Seeker's reaction. "I just have to be willing. Which wouldn't have been a problem to begin with because as I've been assured, you weren't doing it forcefully to begin with."

But did he want the fragging Prime poking about in his mind, his memories while he...used his frame? There was no prettying that up; that's what it was, plain and simple. "I really wouldn't know, I obviously don't have one...but it's a reasonable theory that the last thing it would want is Starscream running amok inside your processor." The Seeker smiled sweetly.

Rodimus snorted. "Trust me Seeker. Only my frame would be open to you. My mind is perfectly protected."

"What about mine?" He was concerned about this. He gave the Prime's frame a good look...grounder, again, but it wasn't like he was unused to THAT anymore, but not exactly small...maybe Sideswipe would approve of it...and it would help him...and he did want to be as close as he could get to his lover...he considered it for a moment.

"I promise not to root around. Besides. I'm more interested in what's going on outside your head." He smirked purposefully.

Starscream gave him a sharp look. "The Prime is a pervert. Or at least is curious. Fine. If you're willing. You have to allow me to possess you. I ask again because that Matrix of yours can make it very unpleasant for me if you decide to change your mind." He stood up, arms folded, looking down at the taller grounder.

Rodimus grinned. "Nope. Full cooperation here." He stood as well. "So... You have any ideas where we're gonna catch him first?"

"His quarters, likely...that's probably where he is right now. Or else in the brig." One hand reached out was Starscream's only warning before he stepped into the form of the Prime, the smile on his face more than a little anticipatory and gleeful.

Sideswipe sat half slumped on the couch as he flipped through vidchannels. This was boooooring! Really. Monitor duty was less boring than this. At least it was something and the blackmail you could gather made the tedious joors spent staring at screens worth it.

He sighed and shut the vidscreen off and stood, moving to look at his music collection. Maybe he had SOMETHING he could at least dance to... or something.

Sunstreaker came stomping into their room just as Sideswipe was poking through his (organized) music collection.

"Don't you have anything better to do than mess with your discs?" he asked, plainly irritated about something.

"Slag off, Sunshine." Sideswipe growled, already in an irritable mood. "Aid took me off the roster completely!"

Sunstreaker rolled his optics. "You knew it was coming eventually."

"Not so damn soon!"

"You still knew it was going to happen. You should have planned for something better to do than sit on your aft in our quarters, whining about being bored!" Sunny said nastily. "Now I'm gonna end up doing the work for both of us, as usual!"

Sideswipe just stared at his twin. "Frag yourself!" he yelled. "I do my share!"

"Since when? Before or after you started fragging the Screamer-"

"I don't want to hear you talk about him like that!" Sideswipe hit the table; it was probably better it than his brother.

Sunstreaker's optics widened a bit in surprise and he leaned back a bit. "Someone's testy..."

"FRAG OFF!"

Sunstreaker snorted and ignored him. He still couldn't help a small jab however. "Suppose I shouldn't be so surprised given the Screamer's track record. I am surprised you're not screeching like he does yet."

There wasn't even a warning and then Sunstreaker found himself tackled and slammed into the wall with a small squeal of metal against stone. As per Sunstreaker, he growled and narrowed his optics at the furious face of his brother. "You scratched my paint." He said dangerously.

"Frag your paint, and frag you!" Sideswipe felt...more than a little torqued off, and somewhere inside his mind he thought that maybe, just maybe his reaction might be a bit overboard, but the rest of him told that part to frag off and he shoved again, with his hands and his words.

"Jealous, Sunbeam, that it isn't just you anymore?"

"Never was, with you sniffing around anything that flies-"

"Get the slag out before I forget you're my twin brother!" he screeched, sounding more like Starscream than was probably healthy. First Aid has warned him about emotional outbursts...

"Because that's oh so possible!" Sunstreaker hissed, shoving back as his own anger began to lick at their bond like embers to a growing flame.

Sideswipe shoved again and then found himself flat, Sunstreaker having tackled him this time. He grunted and immediately struggled as they started rolling across the floor, screaming at each other.

Neither heard the door to their quarters slide open.

"What the frag is going on here?" The tones were those of the Prime's, which made the twins sit up in alarm, but Sideswipe recognized immediately that something was up...golden optics. The anger melted from his face into a laughing grin, and he actually hid his giggles behind his hand as Sunstreaker stood up, almost sputtering. "Prime."

Rodimus surveyed the mechs, optics darting from one to the other and looking less than pleased. "Sunstreaker. What the frag were you thinking?!"

Sunstreaker scowled almost immediately, glaring at his brother who was giggling behind him. Of course the fragger would get him into trouble.

"Prime, it was a small argument, we're fine."

"Your brother's carrying, don't you have any consideration?" Starscream said in Rodimus Prime's voice. He was having a very difficult time keeping a straight face, but for some odd reason the Prime-consciousness was helping him...

"I..." Sunstreaker was at a loss for words, and Sideswipe was almost beside himself, tears running from his bright optics. Sunny had apparently not noticed the optics...and that's when Sunstreaker's own optics narrowed, having picked that up from the bond.

"Starscream, I'll slag you for this-!"

"I was being serious Sunstreaker." Starscream said. "Sideswipe is carrying. You two tend to get over your helms when you start in on each other. You could have seriously hurt him."

"That is not any of your business and you shouldn't be pretending to be the Prime." Sunstreaker said truculently. He knew that, but his temper had gotten away with him.

"I'm not pretending...as if you couldn't notice, for the moment I am the Prime." That half-smile looked very odd on Rodimus' face.

"Well never mind that. I guess I'll leave so you can get it done." The scowl could have melted solid steel.

"Who says that's all we do?" Starscream argued with a note of teasing in his voice. "Maybe we just like to cuddle sometimes."

"In Rodimus' body?" Sunstreaker asked incredulous suddenly.

Starscream shrugged and Rodimus could be heard laughing in the back of his mind. Apparently annoying Sunstreaker had always amused him. "Why not Prime's body?"

Sunstreaker made a noise of frustration. "Forget it! I'm gone! Have fun!" And he pushed right on out, forgetting the reason he had been returning to their quarters in the first place.

Star shrugged and smirked down at Sideswipe, rubbing his chin in a considering fashion. "Somehow, I don't think that 'just cuddling' is on the agenda..."

Rodimus, in the background, said that he damned sure hoped not, and Starscream had to control himself to keep from laughing himself to death.

Sideswipe finally calmed down enough to breathe a bit, sitting up to stare at his lover in his Prime's body. And that gave him a bit of pause. And a feeling of embarrassment as something struck him.

"Wait so Roddy agreed to this?"

Starscream raised an optic ridge, the effect of Rodimus' face a little odd. That was all the answer he needed. His face heated.

"So that means... he knows that... You and I..."

"He's known about you and I for a long while now. Being who he is, and with what he holds, his presence...eases me, in odd ways. I can talk to him without using tricks or extra energy siphoned from Primus-knows-where. So he sort of tricked me into it." He'd also made a somewhat different sort of confession to him, the words echoing in his mind even now...

"But you totally just admitted it. Starscream, terror of the skies, Decepticon Air Commander, Winglord of Vos... Is in love with a nobody from the pits of Kaon."

Rodimus laughed even now at that, and Star told him to shut the frag up.

"Yes, he knows." he said once more.

Sideswipe covered his face in a bit of embarrassment. "Primus, all my dirty little secrets wrung out for the Prime to see... At least it wasn't Optimus." That would have just been plain mortifying.

Rodimus informed Starscream that there really wasn't much there in Optimus' memories, so he would have been easily shocked most likely.

"What dirty little secrets, hmm?" That purr was all Starscream, as was the gesture he gave- one finger tracing his lover's facial features almost reverently.

Sideswipe shifted a bit, trying to keep in mind it was Starscream in there doing this and not his Prime. It was a little odd. To think of his Prime and himself in a sexual situation. Sure he'd once upon a time had little fantasies about Optimus once or twice, but they were more hero worship things. Rodimus was both younger and it was hard to seperate the cocky kid he had been to the prime he was now.

"Nothing you don't already know?"

"I don't believe you~" Star said in a singsong tone. "Surely you've wanted to have someone above you...below you at times? The thought of having one's superior serve THEM is a common one...everyone has the thought once or twice." The look in those golden optics was almost enough to make a priest break his vows.

Sideswipe shuddered at the look, but he was going to be completely honest here. "Not Rodimus. Not really. Love the kid, but we were just good friends..."

Starscream tilted his head. "Ah, the old Prime. I see. Is this going to be...difficult for you?" There was real concern in his voice now.

"No. Probably not. Guess he hasn't told you, but Roddy and I have fragged before." Sideswipe assured and Rodimus' satisfied chuckle in his head confirmed that. "He's quite inventive."

"Really. Maybe you'd like to share, then? Because I can't draw on his memories; I rely on the both of you to do it for me, this time." Though the fact that Star bent to kiss him sort of defeated the purpose of Sideswipe speaking, at least for now. He remained knelt beside the frontliner on the floor, hands on his shoulders as Sides sat beside him.

Sideswipe moaned softly into Starscream's kiss, pressing into it firmly as he wrapped an arm around his neck. He pulled him closer as he laid back, one hand immediately going to the pert aft that was Rodimus'.

Star used the larger frame to his advantage, pressing his lover backward fully into the floor, one hand on his shoulder, one grasping at and hand to entwine their fingers. "So beautiful. I don't care how many times we do this, I still want you more and more each time." To forestall further words, he kissed him again, harder this time, pushing with the gentle pressure on his borrowed frame's aft.

Apparently he wasn't going to be allowed a word edgewise. Not that he was complaining. Starscream was talented with a glossa. He smirked against the other's lips and squeezed at the aft again before running fingers up to tweak at several wires in his lower back that he knew were sensitive.

An unexpected rush hit him- he was bound to the pleasure zones of the frame he was inhabiting, and apparently Sideswipe knew at least a few of them. The moan he let out was loud and long, and he reciprocated by sliding his hand down between strong thighs to tease at the outer edge of his panel, thumb massaging in circles. "How, this time?" he breathed, nipping at an audial horn.

Sideswipe squeaked, shimmying his hips with a small purr. "Think I want Roddy's spike. Fragger never did let me try it. Too hesitant."

Starscream shivered, and Rodimus within almost choked. His reservations weren't valid at the moment, though- he wouldn't lose himself when he wasn't in control. "Whatever you desire." he whispered, moving his hand more meaningfully. "I can't do a thing unless you open to me...or are you making me work for it? You, who gets dripping wet at the thought of having me? I see you in your berth at night; I know what you do when you're alone...or think you are, anyway." He laughed softly.

"Are you sure I'm not just putting on a show." Sideswipe smirked back. His panel snapped aside, all his irritation long gone. This was far better than wasting the day away doing absolutely scrap.

"No, I wouldn't doubt that you are. You want me to watch you. To see what you do when you can't...have...me." On the last word, Star shoved a single finger deep within his lover, curling it to scrape across the lining in such a way as to tease sensors not usually touched yet. His lips attached themselves to Sideswipe's neck, biting gently, and his vents sped up as they always did, relishing even that feeling as much as the rest.

Sideswipe's surprised cry and sudden arching with the forceful penetration made his port clench down and his fingers dig into whatever plating they were currently touching. "Oh frag! Oh Primus, Starscream, yes!"

*He really likes this, and you.* Rodimus said, feeling the arousal slide through his systems. Starscream ignored him, focusing on his partner and his responses, his lovely cries instead. Golden optics slitted and he thrust forward, then back, adding a second finger on the second stroke inward. "I love to hear you."

*You love more than that.*

*Shut up and enjoy it.*

*Sheesh, tou-CHY.*

He shook his head and pressed his chest close to Sideswipe, leaning over him while he slowly pounded his valve to ready him for what Star knew to be decent-sized equipment, hidden behind plating still. He rectified that small issue, sliding it aside to reveal a very aroused spike, trembling with Star's every movement.

Starscream hissed, loving this feeling, though the Prime grumbled somewhat about the dent. Star told him privately that he WOULD get over it and threw himself into the feeling, the rush that consumed him, leaving the ashes and embers of a spark left to wander behind. He didn't care that they were on the floor, he didn't care who he was possessing or what they were thinking at the moment. He cared about Sideswipe and himself, making love, at this moment that they'd carved out for each other.

"I want you. I want you." he said urgently, pressing that rigid spike at Sideswipe's entrance, teasing him by playing it about the edges and rim of his valve. "More than anything." He meant more than just physically, too, but he wasn't about to explain.

"Then take me, Primus fraggit!" Sideswipe growled, nipping at the plump lower lip.

Taking his hips in hand, he did just that, sliding slowly to make sure that he didn't hurt Sideswipe in his desire. The feeling, as ever, was better than almost anything he could recall, and he threw his head back to cry out, hands gripping almost tightly enough to leave finger marks.

*Yeah, just as tight as I suspected...mmm...* Rodimus purred.

*Slagging pervert.*

The red twin clawed with his free hand at the orange back and red hips as Starscream took his time. It was too slow! "Oh fragging please Starscream! You should know I'm not fragile!"

*Damn he begs good too, I see why you're so hot for it...*

*Prime, shut UP. You are talking about my-*

*Your what?*

*Never MIND!*

Starscream banished the thoughtforms in his meta with a punishing thrust, making himself keen as well as his partner. The scrapes against his borrowed backplates felt divine, and he moaned lowly, fixing his gaze upon the pleasure-dazed cerulean optics of his lover. He kept the pace, finding PLENTY of energy within him...he wondered, idly, if the Matrix was helping with this, too. If so, then fine by him. He was literally only truly alive when with Sideswipe, these days.

"Beautiful. You look so beautiful." he whispered almost too softly to be heard.

Sideswipe groaned, wrapping his legs around Starscream's hips and clenching tightly. "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!" He chanted, panting desperately. "Primus, I love you! Please, Starscream!"

He almost missed it. He really did. So intent on giving pleasure and receiving it in turn, the powerful ebb and flow of bodies meeting in lust and heat, he almost missed the words that made his spark stop whirling around in Rodimus Prime's frame.

*Jackpot, Seeker.*

*HuhWHA?*

*He said it, he loves you...just like you do him. Now what are you gonna do about it?*

*This.*

He didn't stop moving. The realization had taken place in that place between time where sparks could speak, and he moaned loudly, only going harder and faster to prove himself. "I, too. You are mine, my love, and I will prove it." He snarled then, the dominance welling up within him, and he rose up, on his knees with Sideswipe's legs wrapped tightly around him, and jerked those shuddering hips onto him, over and over and over again.

Sideswipe shrieked, clinging tighter and burying his face in Starscream/Rodimus' neck as he sobbed in pleasure. This was wonderful! This was bliss! His legs clenched tighter and he bit at grey neck cabling, drawing energon which served to heighten his lust as he lapped at it.

He allowed Sides to wrap himself around him, moving him, his cries and shrieks driving him completely insane. Starscream was beside himself, his moans and words nearly incomprehensible now, hands gripping tightly, the sting of torn cabling sending his charge even higher than before...and he cried with all the strength within him, "With me! Now, Sideswipe, come with me, love!" He threw his head back and howled golden optics shut tightly, slamming him onto Rodimus' spike as hard as he could and overloaded, not being able to wait any longer. The cry was echoed in his meta as well, the Prime having gone over with spark and frame.

The feeling of scalding transfluid coating the inside of his valve was what did it. His frame stiffened and he muffled his cry of completion in the orange shoulder. When it passed, he slumped slightly and trembled against Starscream.

"Oh you feel so good." Star whispered, holding him close. "So, so good. I don't want to let you go."

"Don't want to either." Sideswipe panted, optics rebooting. He kissed at the small wound he had left behind, licking it again before pulling back a bit to look into golden optics. "So... That was a little different."

"A little, yes." he said cautiously. He devoutly hoped that Sides hadn't said that in the midst of preoverload bliss; he wanted him to mean it, but damned if he was going to mention it before Sideswipe did.

Sideswipe chuckled, kissing him slowly and lovingly. "Tell Roddy I owe him one."

"He hears you...and says that yes, yes you do, and you can repay him for staying out of trouble for the next two cycles." Starscream laughed and gave Sideswipe his own kiss, soft and slow and filled with all that he was feeling at the moment. He felt diminished, as usual, but nowhere near as faded as he usually did after an overload like that...though come to think of it, that had likely been the most intense one since the very first time.

"I'll need to go soon." he said, more than a bit of regret in his voice.

The red mech sighed, slumping a little as he let his helm fall to Starscream's shoulder. "Do you really have to? Right now?"

Starscream considered. Then he swallowed his considerable pride and consulted with his host.

*Well?*

*Well, what, Starscream?*

*Can I pretty please stay here and cuddle for a bit?* Star's mental tone was aggrieved and more than a little sarcastic.

Prime pretended to consider. *Well...I don't know...*

*AGH.*

*Fine, fine. But not more than a joor. You're feeding off my energies now.*

*...I can do that?*

"I can stay for a little while." Star finally said after Rodimus had flatly ignored his last question.

Sideswipe smiled. "Good."

Starscream found himself wandering the halls again, after Sideswipe was firmly in recharge and Prime had finally kicked him out of his body and sent him on his way so he could rest. Which left a lot of time on his hands.

He was thinking very seriously about sneaking into the labs where they were working on that odd Seeker frame. It sounded like such a good idea that he turned away from Sideswipe's quarters to head that way, with almost a bounce in his step. The experience with the Prime had been... Satisfying, for all three participants, and he even felt a bit stronger for it. Maybe he wasn't such a pain in the aft after all.

Well, it certainly wouldn't hurt to look, now would it?

He glided that way, heedless of the time of cycle- he had no need of rest, after all.

The fact that the base was practically deserted this time of cycle was no surprise. That the lab wasn't... well. That wasn't much of a surprise either. Starscream glanced around after floating insubstantially through the doors and was a little disappointed to find no frame, but two scientists instead. Perceptor and Skyfire were working quietly side by side, which was not an unusual sight, but still struck Starscream hard from time to time.

Had it been he and Skyfire, there would most definitely have been snark.

Instead there was near silence broken only by the soft clink of tools, and an occasional murmur, spoken to oneself rather than to another. Starscream sighed. This place was quieter than death and nowhere near as amusing. He slid over toward the table and glanced at their project, curious indeed.

It was the sharp pain in his chest that alerted him that something was wrong first. The fact that it made him flinch and drop the datapads he'd been carrying to the command hub was pause for concern from every mech around.

"You ,Sideswipe, okay?" The red mech turned somewhat dazed to look into the concerned optics of Swoop, the Dinobot towering over him but bending slightly so he didn't have to gaze upwards.

"I think so." He murmured, rubbing at his chassis before bending down with a grimace to pick up the dropped datapads. Since the sparklings had entered into the last stage of gestation, they had been taking up room in his spark chamber and moving to quickly had become a dizzying and altogether unpleasant business.

Swoop just looked at him while he helped gather the fallen datapads, concern plain on his faceplates. "You Sideswipe look sick. Me Swoop look you over?" he asked, taking one hand in his to help him off the floor.

Sideswipe just shook his head, but he couldn't hold back the grimace of pain that hit him out of nowhere- it felt like those three in there were trying to MAKE more room, whether his frame had it or not.

"No, Swoop, it's okay, I'm gonna be fine, I'm good...fragging /pits/!" he hissed when the feeling came back in a wave.

The Dinobot frowned. "No. You Sideswipe need First Aid." He actually laughed at the little joke.

"I said I'll be fine, it's okay." Sideswipe insisted, this wasn't new. They'd been getting more active lately and sometimes pain like this flared up. However when the next wave had him stumbling to his hands and knees and crying out, he knew what was up.

With wide, terrified optics he looked up at the extremely startled pterodactyl. "Swoop... I think they're coming."

Without another word, the large mech scooped up the frontline warrior, datapads forgotten and hurried off to medbay.

Swoop alone of the Dinobots had a tendency to actually think things through, so First Aid had been alerted by a somewhat flustered Swoop before they even arrived. He was hurriedly setting up an area for delivery, with a incubation chamber nearby just in case they were still too small to survive unassisted. First Aid looked at Sideswipe as calmly as he could manage; inside, he was fragging terrified he was going to screw this up.

"Lay him on the berth here." he directed the Dinobot, who was only too happy to obey. He started up a drip, but added no pain control agents as of yet; he wasn't sure how it would affect the sparklings. Winglets.

"Are you all right, Sideswipe?" he finally asked.

The pain was more insistent now, settling over his body with a dull ache after each sharp tun on his spark. "Does it LOOK like I'm all fragging right!?" He hissed, denta gritted against the next cry of queasy pain.

First Aid shook his helm, steeling himself for what was to come. "Right, well, let's get this over with."

Sunstreaker ran through the base like a madmech, earning cries of irritation or confusion as he knocked mechs over or into the walls in his haste. Like he cared about those fraggers. He burst through the Prime's office door, optics wide and venting harshly.

"Where is he?!" He demanded, stalking to the stunned Prime.

"Where is who? Sunstreaker, calm down for frag's sake. If you mean your brother, he's in medbay...as you should know, if you asked." Prime said mildly, raising an optic ridge at the golden frontliner twin.

Sunstreaker wanted to cry in frustrated irritation. "Not him. Starscream!"

Rodimus looked confused, but complied. "He's actually right here. He was about to leave for medbay-"

"Good, he can go later, I need him and you to follow me. Now."

Starscream was indeed sitting on the Prime's desk, now thoroughly confused. "Why in the rainbow frag does he want me to come with him?" he asked, looking at Sunny with a bit of mistrust. Sunstreaker didn' seem to like him much...

"No idea, Screamer, but it sounds important. Why me, Sunstreaker? Because it's easier to talk to him this way?"

"Not...exactly, Prime." His tone was a little strained, but he led them to the labs rather quickly, not saying any more until they arrived.

"Primus I am gonna kill him if he ever touches me again-!" Sideswipe yelled. First Aid cocked an optic ridge and merely asked, "Who?"

"Starscream!" Sideswipe hissed as one of the now exposed sparklings tugged sharply at his spark, one of the strands of energy connecting the two tearing away.

Starscream was going to die for this. Ghost or no ghost. Was it possible to be a ghost of a ghost? Ha. He bet Ratchet was probably laughing his aft off where ever he was.

He whined, fingers clenching at the edge of the berth as the spark made another bid for freedom. First Aid looked at him, startled.

"Sideswipe, did you just say what I think you just said?" First Aid asked carefully, checking some readings even as Sideswipe's fingers left dents in the metal of the berth railing.

"Yes, I fragging said Starscream, this is his work, and Primus above me I'm gonna slag him to Unicron's third hell!"

"Sideswipe, Starscream's dead." he said patiently.

"And that didn't stop hiiiim-GAH!"

First Aid quickly focused back on the spark as it finally disconnected its last strand, the CMO quick to catch it in special forceps and gently direct it to one of the three frames that the Seekers had been oddly pleased to make. First Aid then checked on the other two after making the first one was settled, bright colors of its coding showing through. The little thing jumped and then wailed, the medic instintively wanting to soothe it, but unable to due to the currently distressed sparks still spinning quickly around the quickly panicking carrier spark.

"Okay. It's okay, Sideswipe. Try to relax. It's okay. We'll get you through this." He said, trying to assure himself as well as Sideswipe. He put thoughts of Sideswipe's pain filled confession to the side as he waited on the last two sparks.

The small grouping of mechs stood around the now nanite saturated Seeker frame, the oddity of seeing a mech very similar to Starscream in build striking all present. Sunstreaker looked least bothered and was staring intently at Rodimus.

"Put him in."

Rodimus looked at him, startled. "I beg your pardon?"

It was obvious Sunstreaker was fighting the urge to hit something. "You have the fragging Matrix, now put. Him. In!"

Rodimus Prime blinked. "You want me to try to reunite...hmmm." When he'd still been Hot Rod, he'd /not/ been the brightest bulb on the board, but he thought he had the way of it now. The Matrix itself held the wisdom and experiences of its previous holders, and apparently several of them had been called upon to do similar things in the past. He stared at what appeared to be empty air. "Get over here."

"No." Was the Seeker afraid?

"Starscream, this is your only chance at having a form again." Skyfire said, having been informed of the ghost's presence.

"No, I said. I could be lost forever, your damned Matrix could subsume me...any number of things could go wrong, and poof! No more Starscream." His tone trembled, as did his spectral wings.

The Prime was not amused, but he supposed he understood. "He thinks he's going to fade away if it fails." he explained to everyone else.

"He may." Skyfire said cautiously. "But you wouldn't fail him now, would you, Prime?" He gave the brightly-colored mech a small smile, and the Prime proved that Hot Rod still lived on within him by sticking his glossa out at the shuttleformer.

"Come on, Star." he wheedled.

Starscream shook his helm stubbornly, prompting a sigh from the Prime even as the Seeker stared at the frame longingly and with real fear in his optics.

And then Sunstreaker uttered the most damning thing of all. "You can have a real life with Sideswipe who is separating your progeny from his own spark right the frag now." Thin attractive lips quirked into a familiar and yet not familiar smirk. "You wouldn't want to miss it, would you?"

"He's WHAT!?" Starscream looked like he was about to bolt from the room, but Prime had somehow barred the exits to his particular brand of travel.

"Dirty trick, Rodimus Prime." He hissed, scowling. "I need to go to him, now, not play your silly game of 'Pin the Spark on the Seekerframe'."

He replied gently, "Starscream. You will do him no good, going as you are. You can't even hold his hand! Try this. If not for yourself, then for the tiny trine who wants to know their sire."

Star muttered something that sounded remarkably like "Low blow, even for you." but he inched closer, still not liking this. "If I fade away, I'll haunt you until you're insane." He promised somewhat illogically.

Rodimus laughed slightly as he opened his chest, the light of the Matrix shining over the room's occupants. "Deal."

"You're doing great Sideswipe." First Aid encouraged, watching the second spark hanging on by its last strand, its brother was laying on the table, still wailing and kicking, distressed by his brothers' and carrier's distress.

Sideswipe merely moaned weakly, grunting as the tendril pulled free and First Aid caught the spark and quickly distributed it in the second frame. Primus, he wanted it to be over. The wailing had just started in stereo when the medical bay doors opened, masked by the crying infants.

He still felt...wobbly. And heavy. And off-balance because they hadn't gotten it exactly right but it was close enough- he had hands and feet and WINGS oh Primus and he could take in air and and and...and he could hear the sounds of wailing sparklings even as he rushed in, almost tripping in his haste.

"Sideswipe." His voice was...Different. Not so scratchy, though he'd already proven that he could still screech loudly enough to make even the Prime wince. "Sides...love...it's me."

First Aid stood completely frozen where he was even as Sideswipe's optics fluttered open weakly. "I'm going to fragging kill you." He croaked, vocalizer filled with static.

Starscream choked on a laugh, pressing a soft kiss to the panting lambo's forehelm, cobalt hand gripping a black one tightly. "I know. I know and I don't care. Come on, love. I'm here."

Somewhere in the back of First Aid's mind he was considering calling for backup, because having Starscream in your medbay, when NOT restrained, had been a bad idea for longer than Aid had been alive. Something told him not to, though, and that feeling was reinforced when he saw how gently he touched the crimson mech's face, when he noted the genuine smile plastered on Starscream's own face.

"Two- already born. They're okay." Sideswipe managed before biting almost through his lip, hand clamping down on Starscream's gratefully. It was... Easier, now. It didn't seem to hurt as much, or for as long, and to Star's credit he didn't even wince. He did glance at the medical readouts to satisfy himself before turning his full attention back to Sideswipe. "I love you." he said simply, meaning it.

First Aid stared.

"Still going to fragging kill you." Sideswipe huffed and then cried out as the third sparkling tugged with a very visible lurch forward.

Starscream glared at the staring First Aid, sneer on his face. "The slag are you staring for!? Help him, slaggit!"

The medic startled, nearly dropping his tool and then quickly went back to task after he had regained himself.

"The last one, Sides. You can do it. He's almost here. Then you can rest and plot my horrible, but temporary demise. Do try and NOT destroy my frame this time?" he said with a wry grin.

Sideswipe grit his denta but a small laugh crept through anyway, which had been Star's aim to begin with. First aid fiddled with something on the infusion line and Sideswipe suddenly began to feel light...almost airy.

"You're almost done, and the third triplet has nearly separated, so I thought I'd give you something." he explained.

Sideswipe nodded sharply and then gasped, optics snapping shut again as the second to last tendril seemed to snap free, leaving the sparkling attatched by a quickly thinning lifeline.

'Almost over, almost over, almost over..." Became the mantra in his helm as the sparkling seemed to shrink back into his chamber as if gearing up for another lunge.

It probably was.

"What do I do? How do I help?" Starscream asked almost frantically.

"Go get the frame over there and bring it here." Aid said, chuckling. Star did so with far more speed than was required, and stood next to his lover with the limp frame of an unpowered winglet in his arms.

"The sparkling should go right to it if you hold it like so-"

Sideswipe yowled suddenly, the sound tearing into Starscream's spark (his very own pulsing spark) as the little golden spark lurched one last time and tore free with a violent buck of its carrier's chassis. It seemed to hover for a moment, First Aid standing ready with the forceps incase it decided to make a break for it, before it launched forward to settle with easy grace into the grey frame.

The frame became a shock of brilliant crimson and white with black servos and cobalt thrusters as it too began to shriek in its first stinging breath of life.

"Oh Primus he looks like me." Starscream said, a radiant smile on his face. "He looks like /me/, Sides, hey, sshhhh, don't cry little one..." He started making the soft clicking noises he hadn't heard in literally aeons, interspersed with soft chirring sounds meant to comfort. The tiny faceplates smoothed out, and brilliant cobalt optics stared up at him.

First Aid was helping Sideswipe, who looked about ready to fall into recharge until he saw Starscream wheeling over the small portable berth that held the other two winglets, both of which seemed to be looking for fuel. Star picked them up one by one, settling them around their kali with a smile.

"Beautiful. They're beautiful."

"Mmmmph." Sideswipe's reply was less than enthusiastic, but the emotion in his dim optics was obvious as he stared at each in turn. The one Starscream was still holding, the one that looked like him with blue optics and black hands. The one who had latched his mouth onto his own finger and was eagerly sucking on it while becoming more frustrated, little red servos fisted and flapping with his increasing angst which showed in crystal clear rubies, black chassis and white limbs and red thrusters following suit. Then the eldest, working his way into wails again as brilliant crimson optics stared at the ceiling, cobalt blue chassis and white limbs with black thrusters curled. One black servo was shoved into his mouth and he chewed on it.

"Skyrazor. Thunderstrike. And..." He didn't finish. The one he hoped to name after his fallen trinemate Skywarp didn't resemble him much, but the blue winglet reminded Star strongly of his namesake, Thundercracker. He had a name for the third, but seeing as the winglet looked almost just like him, he feared that Sideswipe would think him incredibly arrogant...He sighed, relishing the feeling of even that, and looked into his love's blue optics, so like his little one's. "Stardust." he almost whispered.

"I like 'em." Sideswipe mumbled without hesitation. He could tease Starscream later. Right now he really just wanted to rest.

Starscream beamed, even as Thunderstrike began to cry again, little tanks uncomfortably empty.

"How do I..."

First Aid stepped in, looking at the exhausted Sideswipe. "You have to feed one, Sideswipe, Starscream doesn't have enough hands." Sides nodded tiredly; he already knew the subroutine required to begin feeding, and First Aid nestled little Skyrazor on his side next to his carrier, who was already half in recharge. He raised the rail on the berth as a precaution, then turned to Starscream.

"You need to find and activate sparkling feeding protocols-" He stopped when it became evident that Star knew more about this than Aid had given him credit for. He had the twins laying on their backs, wings overlapping, with his hands on their chests. They sucked noisily at his fingertips even as Star gave First Aid an almost sweet smile that the medic found rather disturbing.

"Yes, well... I'll leave you to it. Call if you need me." The young CMO said, finally deciding that he'd had enough weird for one cycle. Ratchet wouldn't have batted an optic shutter. Good thing he wasn't Ratchet.

Starscream smirked even as he returned his attention to the winglets suckling on his fingers. Sideswipe was firmly in recharge, despite the mechlet feeding from his own line and the smirk softened into something more loving.

"Thank you." Starscream whispered softly, leaning forward to press a tender kiss to slack lip plates. "For everything."


	3. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After being offed by Galvatron and stuck in an etheral form, Starcream finds himself craving companionship and falling in love with the least likely former enemy. Star/Sides and WTF-ery. PURE CRACK

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is everything. We hope you guys liked!

Epilogue

~Vorns Later~

"Thunderstrike, no, let your brother off the ground. For Primus' sake you're supposed to SHARE that toy! I see you climbing on the desk, Skyrazor, do NOT jump off of it or so help me I will ground you!"

A pout met that statement as the little fledgling climbed back down while Sideswipe pulled the other two off each other. Stardust and Thunderstrike glared at each other from around their kali, but did nothing. Sideswipe was just exasperated and ready for Starscream to come back from his flight with the youngling seekers he was training. The door opening was music to his audios.

"Oh thank Primus!"

"No, thank Prime for finally shutting up so that we could get OUT of there and onto our flight." Star said, sweeping his way into the room with a flowery but fake bow.

"SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRE!" Three voices cried in unison, and suddenly Starscream's legs were covered in Seeker, one (of course it had to be Skyrazor) crawling /up/ his back. All fights were forgotten in the face of their favorite person in the universe arriving, and Star...he felt the same way about his family.

Sideswipe groaned and collapsed on the couch, helm thunking back on the back of it. "Maybe they'll behave for you." He huffed.

"They'd better...won't you?" He arched an optic ridge at the triplets after peeling Sky off his wings, three short little winglets standing with hands behind their backs and their own wings held high and proud.

"Yes."

"Uh-huh."

"I guess."

That last was Stardust, whose dark face wrinkled as if he's tasted something nasty. His hand snuck around to tweak Thunder's wingtip, causing the blue seekerling to yelp aloud and clout his minutes-younger brother in the head. Starscream ended the fight by the simple expedient of taking a wingtip in each hand and separating the two to stand face-first at opposite walls.

"You may stand here until you see fit to apologize to your brother AND your kali for being an absolute pain in his aft."

Both Seekerlets shot nasty glares at each other before facing their relative walls. Skyrazor happily hopped onto the couch, splaying across his tired out carrier's lap. "Sorry Kali." He said with big round optics, and Sideswipe couldn't remain angry for long. He never could when they did this to him

Now he knew how Ratchet and Sunstreaker had felt all those vorns back.

"It's okay, sport." He sighed, caressing the seekerling's helm. Skyrazor beamed and snuggled in.

Star sighed; he never liked having to discipline them right upon getting home, but it was necessary so that they didn't turn into little hellions. He quirked his lips and walked over to Sideswipe, bending over his tiny son to give him a kiss. "Afternoon, love. I would ask how your day was, but I believe I know the answer."

"Oh it started out well enough." Sideswipe grinned, returning the kiss happily. "And then it went to pit around after midday energon."

"Yuck." the seekerling said, staring up at his creators with distaste. Starscream ignored him and sat next to Sideswipe, facing the other two who had started to fidget against the wall. "What happened then, did someone get more than the other, an accidental wingslap, what? These three fight worse than a gestalt!"

"Trine, not gestalt." Sky informed his sire.

"An argument over the fastest flier." Sideswipe grumbled.

Skyrazor pointed to himself instantly. "I can fly fastest!"

"NU UH!" Was the immediate rebuttal from Stardust. "I can!"

"That's pit scrap!" Thunderstrike added his opinion. "We all know yer slowest in the air, Dust!"

"Take that back slag heap!"

Sideswipe gestured with a groan to show exactly how his day had gone. That and their kids tended to ignore him when it came to discipline and breaking things up.

"QUIET!" Starscream bellowed, and three little faces turned to him, optics wide. Two crimson, one bright blue, all a mixture of awe and more than a little guilt.

After they'd fallen silent, he peered at the three. "/I/ am the fastest flier. Out of you three, it does not yet matter- you are still in your youngling frames, and you can barely get off the ground without crashing." The looks turned furious before they hung their helms as one. "Stop the bickering or you will /not/ be permitted to attend the Air Show next decacycle."

Three whines met that statement, but Starscream remained firm in his glare and they fell silent, wings drooping sullenly. Sideswipe relaxed slightly.

"Can we go play now, Sire?" Thunderstrike asked, relatively politely. "We were invited to Firestorm's house for dinner, all three, and they're just two floors up."

"You're forgetting something." Starscream said absently.

Stardust scowled, looking even more like Starscream than usual, and turned, giving his sweetest smile. "Kali, I'm sorry my brother's such an aft."

"You wingless-" Thunder lunged.

Starscream just glared, and they stopped in midmotion, groaning aloud. "Sorry, Kali, we don't MEAN to be bad." Skyrazor said, speaking for the trine.

Sideswipe sighed and rubbed Skyrazor's back. "I know sport. Let's just work on it next time okay?" He smiled slightly. "Before you drive your kali insane."

Skyrazor giggled, hopping from his carrier's lap. "Can we go now, Kalu?"

Starscream looked at all three of them and nodded slowly. "If I hear of any silly fighting, you will be grounded, in all senses of the word, for the foreseeable future." He really shouldn't worry, he knew; in public, the triplets were decorous except when one of their number was threatened.

"All right, Kalu." Stardust said, hopping up to give both his creators a kiss on the cheek. His brothers followed suit and they dashed out, rushing to their friends' place with much more haste (and noise) than necessary.

Once the door closed, Sideswipe took the chance to flop back on the couch competel, helm in Starscream's lap as he groaned. "Frag am I glad you came home."

Star smiled softly, hands drifting down to Sides' shoulders to rub some of the day's stress away. "We have a few joor now, you can relax. They really were little glitches today, hm?" he asked, stroking plating soothingly. He bent to kiss Sideswipe gently on the helm and thanked Primus again that he had the opportunity to do this at all.

"Yes." Sideswipe hummed, optics shuttering and enjoying the attention. "I'm a horrible parent. Can't even keep my own kids under control."

"You are not. How many carriers do you know that have twins, let alone triplets? BONDED triplets?" Starscream said, wanting to dissuade Sideswipe from these thoughts. "It would be enough to drive the most patient mech in the universe mad after awhile. You do just fine, love."

Sideswipe grunted, unconvinced. They seemed to like driving him up a wall. He couldn't even discipline them properly. "Missed you."

"I always miss you." The Seeker pulled Sides up so that he could properly hold him, even on this couch. He gazed into bright blue optics. "No matter how much you doubt, recall that I believe in you, in your ability to raise our winglets."

Sideswipe grinned and leaned forward to kiss Starscream soundly. "You know..." He purred, fingers gently caressing the bottom of the mech's cockpit. "We have a few joors to ourselves now..."

Star's breath caught at the sound of his love's voice. "We do." he said softly. "But I'm carrying you off anyway." He put words into action, swinging Sideswipe up in his arms and carrying him to their berthroom, making sure to lock the door behind them. They'd already been walked in on more than once by a triplet or two; they didn't /hide/ their interfacing lives but they did not advertise it either. The triplets were still far too young.

Full dark lips devoured thin ones as Star lay Sideswipe down, their hands joined.

Sideswipe hummed into the kiss happily, tugging Starscream down insistently. He was eager and needed Starscream as much as he always did. "Feel like riding me to day, lover?" He husked, glossa swiping against a dark lower lip.

Wings trembled and his hips pushed down almost as if he were already doing it. "Is that what you'd have me do, love?" he asked, the submissive tone light yet needy. He could feel himself growing damp from the thought alone- this was one of his favorite things to do, and his love knew it.

"It is." Sideswipe replied simply, hands gliding up deceptively gently to tickle against wing sensors. "Have a problem with it?" He teased.

"No." The look Star gave his love was nearly predatory. He eased his legs apart to straddle Sideswipe, panels still firmly closed. Cobalt hands rested on his shoulders as he gazed down, the smile almost wide enough to crack his faceplates. "I am so lucky to be here, to have you like this." he whispered, kissing Sideswipe gently.

"I know." Sideswipe grinned cheekily. "Not everyday a seeker lands someone as good looking as myself." He took advantage of Starscream straddling him, fingers seeking seams and those delicious little wires that made Starscream squirm with need.

Star hissed and moved into the light touch, sticking his glossa out at the obvious arrogance in his comment. "That's /not/ what I meant, pretty little glitchling...but I can work with it." One of his own hands traced patterns on Sides' chest plating, while the other worked its way under him to gently twist wiring in his back. His hips pushed into Sideswipe softly but rhythmically, the sweet ache of anticipation flavoring every kiss he pressed to Sides' cheeks, lips, and neck.

"Mmmm." Sideswipe hummed in appreciation, fingers finally digging their way under back hinges to tug at wires that he knew ran through both wings. He used that anchor to grip Starscream down to him so that he could kiss him properly, glossa shoving past dark lips to taste and claim.

Star's breath came faster, and he pressed down harder, the fingers buried between his wings something that he loved to feel. He moaned softly into the kiss, hips rocking gently, slowly, preparing them both for what Star knew was going to end up being rough and harsh, they way they both wanted it. Now was for the love they shared, and some gentleness, so Star brushed across the sharply defined cheeks, up to the audial horns that looked silly on anyone but Sideswipe.

The full body shudder wracked Sideswipe's frame, engine revving sharply. He mewled softly, fingers curling in wiring as he kissed harder. Behind his panel, he felt his spike hardening swiftly. He wasn't sure Starscream would actually end up riding him afterall.

Star melded his lips and his form to his love, moaning continually, the soft noises driving even him. He pulled up just long enough to murmur against Sides' lips. "Optics off, love. And open up."

The same words he'd said on the very first time. Yes, Starscream, scourge of the skies, was indeed a hopeless romantic when it came right down to it.

With a small growl of anticipation, Sideswipe did so. His panel snapped open, revealing an eager spike that was already leaking fluid and his grip turned harsher, no longer just tugging at wires but pulling at them.

"Sides, slaggit, yes-" Star said, his hands clamping down hard on his love's shoulders to hold him there, the glimpse of his leaking spike making him even hotter. He slid his own aside as well and slid himself across Sides' spike, the wetness slicking up the shaft even as he moved slowly enough to make himself want to scream. He nipped at Sides' lips, circling his hips against the thick member but not yet impaling himself. "So ready for me, you are..." he purred.

Sideswipe vented shakily, the warmth sliding up his spike making him moan deeply. Without optical input it was just so much better. The physical touch seemed to amplify his need and want. "Frag yes, babe. C'mon. Know you want it."

"Of course I want it. Want you." Star said, meaning every word of it. He drew his hips back and suddenly pressed himself onto Sides' spike, without a bit of warning or anything else and his backstrut stiffened, forcing the spike even farther inside him. "Yes!" he called, hips jerking forward to bury him farther. White wings shivered, and he took Side's hands and gently guided them to his wings to touch.

The red mech allowed his hands to be pulled away from the hinges he loved playing with so much and he traced the flat expanse of what he knew to be wings with reverent awe before he pressed more firmly out. His hips jerked hard into the sudden tight warmth that swallowed him, shoving the rest of the way in with a snarl of pleasure. "Frag baby, so tight, so hot!"

"Only for you and for this." Star replied, snapping his hips forward. He rose up just slightly, enough to move Sideswipe within him, then slammed back down hard, hoping that his love would get the hint and use the grip he'd given him to move him. He'd scream to the heavens if Sideswipe did that... "Just like you'd best not be with any other fliers, or else I may become... Upset. Or claim you publically."

That definitely got a rise from Sideswipe. "Mmmm. I may have to go find another flier then." He teased. Dark fingers curled around a wing edge each and he jerked Starscream onto him sharply, arching to press his spike in as it deep as it would go.

He moaned with a soft curse interlaced here and there.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you? For me to take you. Take you and hold you." He ground himself downward, wringing a sharp cry from himself, that and the grip on his wing...Primus. "Hold you to the ground and take you, no matter who saw you writhing beneath me. No matter what I wished to do, spreading you wide for all to see that you belong to me." His tone had dropped into a low growl as he began to move faster, sliding higher only to slam back down, over and over again.

"Primus!" Sideswipe hissed, back bowing as the images assaulted his processor. "Ngh! Would- do it for you too! Would show that fragger on second floor to keep his slagging hands to himself!"

His squeezed his lover's wings tightly once more before his hands relocated to ruby hips and pulled down hard, holding him there while he took the chance to just grind against his lover.

"Sides, frag YES!" Star hissed, rocking into the grinding motion to bring them even closer together because he couldn't do anything else. "You're mine, slag him and any other ridiculous fragger who thinks to touch you!" The image of having Sideswipe in front of Primus knows who is a tempting one, and fingers clench and unclench in his desire to make his love feel as good as he can.

"Oh it's not me he's looking at lover." He growled, thrusting sharply several times. "Mmm. Anyone ever tell you, you're addictive?"

"N-no." He said truthfully, writhing into the thrusts. "Won't-let anyone else have me, either. As you are mine, I am YOURS. And I'll let you prove that as you wish." The low purr with that promised many, many things, and Starscream gave his love an appraising look.

Sideswipe grinned wickedly, optics snapping on and he rolled them. Firm black hands trapped white thighs, dragging them over his shoulders before they pinned cherry hips against the berth. He bit into the thick cables on that luscious neck as he thrust in earnest. "I-might-have to- take you up on that." He panted in between moans and the sounds of their plating meeting.

"Oh frag-" Star moaned. He hadn't expected this, but he certainly didn't mind; in fact, he struggled lightly against the hold on his hips so that he might move with him. The sharp pain of denta on his neck made the intense pleasure in his valve that much better, and clawed hands raked down Sides' back, not too hard but definitely hard enough to feel. "Fragging please, Sides, faster!" he cried. "If you...want to have me...in front of old Iceknife on Two then I'll do it, on my knees or on my back or...a-AH!" Star writhed then, valve contracting in preoverload motions as he watched his gorgeous lover take control of him.

Sideswipe snarled, doing so, hips shoving in a wave like rhythm. He could feel the pressure banding around his middle and it didn't take much longer before he shoved as hard and deep as he could, overloading with a howl.

"STARSCREEEEAM!"

"Love-" Star gasped, shaking as his own overload came upon him, triggered by the sound of his love's voice when he lost control, the hard slam, the wash of hot fluid filling him as full as he'd ever been. A loud cry of Sideswipe's name followed; he grasped his face and kissed him hard, both of their frames shuddering in the aftermath.

Sideswipe shook, panting as his frame vented the overheated air, cooling fans rattling in their frames. Slowly, so he didn't collapse, he lowered Starscream's legs and pulled out with a grunt of after-pleasure. "Never gets any less intense." He purred, sated and satisfied, kissing dark lips gently.

"Not even after all this time." Starscream agreed. He lay partially atop Sideswipe, one hand resting lightly on his helm. "I came back from death to be with you, why should a little time here among the living be any barrier?" he teased.

"Yeah. Why indeed." He kissed his winged lover again. "Almost sent you back though. Next time, you get to carry a fragging trine."

Star hesitated for just a moment. "Well..." He wasn't sure yet. It was a possibility, but he just didn't know. Despite the time that had passed, this was not the frame he'd grown to maturity in, and he was less sensitive about things.

Sideswipe raised an optic ridge in curiosity. "There something you want to say, babe?"

"Not until I know for sure?" Star said weakly. He knew he wasn't going to be able to hide it now; Sideswipe would get it out of him sooner or later.

Sideswipe remained silent for several moments. "Alright." He sighed, brushing fingers along one cheek and then full lips. "You can keep your secrets for now."

Star kissed Sideswipe, slowly and gently. "I just don't want you to worry about me." They had time. They had all the time in the world. No more war, no more pain and suffering and shortages or anything else...their family, which might just be expanding very soon... Starscream took Sideswipe's hand and placed it over his spark. "You changed me." he said simply. "Changed me for the better, prepared me for this life we have now...and I love you and thank you for it for all my days."

Sideswipe wasn't very good at the feelings thing without feeling awkward so he fell back on the tried and true, giving Starscream a cheeky but genuine smile. "Well then, we still have time. Maybe we ought to put that change to good use. A night on the town sounds like a good place to start."

"I strongly suggest we hit the 'racks first." Star pointed out with a grin. "And you get to scrub my wings. Then we can do whatever it is you want...except extreme sports, not today, I don't think my ancient spark could take it."

Sideswipe laughed loudly, kissing him one last time before pulling back, optics sparkling brightly. "Deal."


End file.
